Phase Six
by nighners
Summary: AU story where the pandemic doesn't progress until the crew of the Nathan James has returned from their mission to the Arctic. This story is a mixture of survival, friendship and love.
1. Chapter 1 - Global pandemic

This is my first AU story so if there are any inaccuracies, my apologies. Hope you enjoy this work. :)

The story is mostly told through Danny and Kara, but also little by others later on.

Appearing in the story are Ravit, Carlton, Frankie B., Wolf, Tom, Mike, Rachel and some others from the crew of the Nathan James.

All feedback is appreciated, so if you have any thoughts about the story, let me know. :)

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1\. Global pandemic

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Kara was sitting by the window at a cabin located in Coles Point. Waiting for Burk, Taylor and Danny to return. Thinking back to yesterday as they had received rather strange messages from their families. The cabin only had the necessities to stay for a few days, so there was no TV. She quite didn't understand why would Frankie rent such a cabin, he was after all a city boy.

 _When she had agreed to Frankie's invitation to join him and the guys at the cabin, she didn't think she would enjoy spending her time like this. To her surprise Burk had been invited as well and he brought along two new people from the International Naval Training Program. Apparently he had met them after they had come back from the Arctic._

 _As Burk had arrived to the cabin with his entourage he had been pretty interested to find out about the road trip she and Danny had been on. "So what is all this talk about a road trip?" Burk had given them an assessing look as they had sat on the couch. "Needed a date to my sisters wedding." She heard Danny reply casually from beside her. "And Foster's what you came up with?" Burk had then asked. "Hey, I'm a catch." She tried to say and smiled at Burk. Danny chuckled at her comment. She wondered what he thought, wasn't she a catch? "Foster's exactly the kinda girl you want to introduce to your mother." Danny had then said to Burk giving a wink at him. "Well, just don't mess with her or you'll have to deal with me." Burk gave a look at her way and then at Danny. Danny just nodded at Burk's comment._

" _Hi, I'm Kara." She got up to shake hands with the two new people Burk had with him. Thinking it was best to break off the situation between Burk and Danny. Burk did feel a little protective about her. "Ravit." "Wolf." She shook hands with the two of them._

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 _They were all gathered around the fire place, she was sitting on Danny's lap as he sat on a armchair. Burk was sitting on the couch quite closely to a rather stunning looking Israeli woman named Ravit. With Ravit's friend Wolf on her other side. Frankie himself was sitting on the other armchair across from her and Danny. Smith and Berchem had drawn the short straw as they were sitting on pillows on the floor next to Halsey. Everyone was telling stories about previous missions and enjoying a glass of wine._

 _So as they had been sitting by the fire, there was a sudden buzzing of phones. Some of them had even missed calls. They had turned the phones on silent (some had vibration still on) because Frankie had insisted that all of them needed to just relax and fiddling with their phones was not the answer. She got up to check her phone as did the others too._

 _Message from Alisha: Did you see the news?_

 _1 missed call from Alisha._

 _Message from Alisha: Kara, answer me!_

 _2 missed calls from Mom._

 _Message from Mom: Just saw the news, have you heard?_

 _Message from Mom: Where are you? Are you safe?_

 _1 missed call from Alisha._

 _Glancing around her, she saw that the others were looking pretty puzzled about what was going on. Quickly browsing the news with her phone, she saw a headline "The President declares a National Emergency due to the Red Flu". She opened the link and read quickly through._

 _According to the CDC and WHO the Red Flu was spreading all over the world. Fearing for the worst, a global pandemic, many countries have now issued a National Emergency and taken precautions. People are advised to take contact with the local authorities in their respective locations. She managed to take a screen shot of the Red Flu symptoms before she lost her cell service. Everyone was probably trying to contact home, their loved ones and friends. Too much traffic going through, she thought. She thought back to when she first heard about it on the radio with Danny._

 _As they had been driving to Disney world, she couldn't help but hear what was going on in the news on the radio. "..There are reported incidents of the Red Flu in a few cities around the country. The CDC is giving out a press release later today.." She listened in and was wondering if it was the same one that had been reported few months back in Asia and Africa. She had read about it only briefly before the trip to the Arctic and it didn't seem that there was a cure for it. Feeling a little afraid that it was now spreading in the USA. "It's probably nothing to worry about." She heard Danny say as if he had noticed she was worried. Nodding at him, she hoped that he was right._

 _They were all in shock about what they had discovered. Most likely a global pandemic and there was no cure for it. There was a sudden panic amongst them, even though they should know how to keep their cool in situations like this, but they all had shore leave at the time, so they weren't on duty._

" _We gotta go back to Norfolk." Smith had said looking at the people around him._

" _Not sure if it is a good idea." Said Frankie._

" _Well, we can't stay here either." Burk had added._

" _It said to contact local authorities on the news, so that means the Navy should have a plan." She said trying to make sense in the situation. Although she didn't really know what they should do. They were all worried about their families for sure and how to find them, but with one car and a boat, how would they decide who got to go and who didn't? And how could they be certain where to find their family members? Smith had family back in Norfolk, glancing at him she saw he was worried about them._

" _So back to Norfolk. It's our best option." Burk stated._

" _It said the virus is airborne. How do we avoid contact?" Ravit asked a little note of fear in her voice._

" _I suggest we keep our cool. We don't know how bad things are yet. The officials might just be overreacting." Danny said with a calm voice. "The Naval Surface Center in Dahlgren is just 1 hour away. I suggest some of us drive there and see what's going on." He continued._

" _I'm in." Burk said. "Me too." Taylor added. Danny nodded. Everyone seemed to think it was the best idea at the time. It didn't do much to rush towards Norfolk even though that was the obvious place to go. The Navy must have a plan, she thought._

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It was the following morning and they still hadn't come back from their trip to Dahlgren. _Just 1 hour away,_ she heard Danny's voice in her mind. Suddenly hearing loud swearing coming from downstairs, she left the room to see what was happening.

"Frankie, what is going on?" She took a look around and saw that he was panicking. "It's Smith and Berchem. They've taken the boat." Frankie glanced at her. "What?" She looked at him. "Found this." Frankie handed a note to her. "I'm sorry, I need to go and find them." She read. She couldn't blame Smith for wanting to be with his family, his wife and kids. And Berchem must have followed as he and Smith were close friends. "Well family goes over friends." She tried to see if Frankie got it. Seeing him nod at her, she saw he understood. "Where's yours?" She asked. "My parents live in Boston, little sister is in New York." He told her. "Did you reach them yesterday?" She sat down on the couch. He shook his head.

Cell services were still down and she didn't think the lines would be back anytime soon. She had a feeling that this whole thing was going south. Suddenly unsure what was the safest plan. Should they stay at the cabin and try to survive through it, perhaps someone was working with a cure and the best thing was to stay put. But they were all in the Navy, they should find their way back to Norfolk and see what the plan was. If there was a plan.

And she was worried about her mother, how was she surviving back in Norfolk? She felt awful that her mother didn't know that she was okay. Only hoping that she didn't drown her sorrows in a bottle. And Alisha was all the way in Europe.. How would she survive?


	2. Chapter 2 - Dahlgren

2\. Dahlgren

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They had parked the car down the road and were now scouting the place as it seemed to be empty. The car ride over hadn't been easy either. There had been a lot of traffic as people were panicking. Leaving their homes behind, trying to find a safe place. There had even been a car accident on the road. There was no way to call for help and someone had taken the injured and was trying to reach a hospital in time. Hoping there was someone to help there. It had looked like chaos all around them.

"Have they evacuated?" Burk gave a look at him as they were looking at the place from afar. His pulse began to ran a little quicker, was this the real deal after all? If the base was evacuated.. "It appears that way." He heard Taylor add. "Okay, we need go and see if there is something to scavenge. Gear. Weapons. Anything." He gave a look at them. Breaking and entering to a government property, he never thought he would be doing that. Well at least not in his own country.

As they had confirmed the place to be empty, they had managed to break in to a storage facility. Walking around in the large hall they didn't like what they were seeing. "It's empty." He heard Taylor say. Yeah, he could see it too. "So they really have evacuated the place." Burk stated. Danny could see the fear on his face. The meaning of this. "Let's see the vehicle hall." He rushed towards the joining door.

"Must've been in a rush." Burk said looking around in the hall. Some vehicles still around, few boxes here and there, half opened and a truck that was half loaded. "Looks like a flat tire." Taylor kicked the tire on the truck. "Let's see what's here." Danny lifted himself inside the truck trying to see what was in the boxes. "Looks like we found some grenades.. service weapons." He raised his voice. Hearing that someone opened the door to the truck to search the front. Looking further inside the truck he found 3 hazmat suits with masks and 4 oxygens tanks. Must have been for the people on the truck, he thought. Had they been in that much of a hurry to evacuate that they didn't take the load from the truck? "We can try and shift the tire, drive the truck back to the cabin." Taylor came to the doorway. "Yeah, sounds like a plan." He nodded and came out of the truck. Burk was gathering gasoline from the remaining vehicles as he and Taylor were working with the tire.

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"Let's go then." Danny got inside the truck and as they were driving away from the base they noticed they weren't alone anymore. There was someone else on the base as well. They could see the civilian cars parked outside which hadn't been there before. Wondering how quietly had they driven as they hadn't heard them. Hitting the gas to get away as fast as they could, hoping they wouldn't follow them. But the truck was making a lot of noise. They probably already had heard them.

"Looks like we're getting some company." Taylor looked at the sideview mirror and they could spot a few people getting into their cars and they had guns. "Taylor, drive the Jeep." Danny gave a glance at the man and he nodded. He was going to slow down long enough for Taylor to jump out and get into the Jeep they had come with. Whatever the plan would be, driving around in a army truck wasn't the smartest move so they needed the Jeep.

They had to get away from there as fast as they could and possible try and loose the people following them.

"They didn't look friendly. No uniforms either." Burk gave a glance at him. "No, they did not." He added.


	3. Chapter 3 - All you can do is wait

3\. All you can do is wait

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"What if something's has happened?" Ravit was walking back and forth in front of the fire place as Kara sat on the couch with Halsey. Frankie was up resting as he had been awake almost the entire night. Not finding peace of mind to sleep. None of them had hardly slept, thoughts haunting them in their minds. "I'm sure they are just being careful." She said, although she was equally worried about them as Ravit seemed to be. It was already evening and they had been gone almost 24 hours now. Perhaps they were ordered to stay put at the base? Or something else had happened..

"So are you and Wolf..?" She thought to ask since Ravit seemed to be rather worried over plain colleagues. "What? Oh no, no. We are just friends." Ravit looked at her and said slightly nervously. "Oh, okay." She met her gaze and then moved on to look and pet Halsey. She thought she had seen fear in Ravit's eyes just now. So if it's wasn't Wolf, it had to be Carlton then. Because it couldn't be Danny.. Thinking back to their road trip, she smiled.

" _What are you thinking?" She heard him ask. She had probably been too quiet for a while now. Thinking about the last few days. "Us." She smiled and looked at him. "You worried about something then?" He asked. "Just wondering how this is going to work out, you might be away for months, I might be away for months.." She began telling the facts. He was funny, and made her laugh, but at the same time he could be serious and listen to what she was telling him about her thoughts about life and her dreams. And she could feel the obvious connection between them, the sparks going through her body whenever she felt his touch. He also seemed to understand that she was serious about her career in the Navy. So she did wonder if this would work out between them?_

" _Hey, we'll make it work somehow, okay?" He reached out for her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "So we are dating for real now?" He said with a chuckle. "I guess so. Your mother will be happy." She looked at him and saw him smile. So she had a boyfriend now._

"So you and Danny, how long have you been together? Probably not that easy since you're both in the Navy." Ravit asked. Seeing that she needed to focus on something else, than thinking about the three men. But before she could answer, Frankie had come down the stairs and overheard Ravit's question. "Oh they've just hooked up. Although Danny has been pining over this girl for a long time." Frankie was quick with his reply. "Really?" Ravit smiled. It was for the first time after Danny, Carlton and Wolf had left. "I could use the distraction." Ravit sat down to one of the armchairs and Frankie seemed like he wanted to tell the story. Avoid the painful thought that something might have gone wrong. Kara gestured to Frankie that he was good to go.

 _Well during our last mission we were stationed in the Arctic and on the first day as I walked behind Danny to the wardroom for some well earned food and coffee, I bumped into his back. Because he was standing in the doorway looking at this stunning woman in front of him. She was of course deep in a conversation with her best friend, so she didn't notice when Danny had caused this little scene._

" _Earth to Lieutenant Green." Frankie had said behind Danny. Glancing over Danny's shoulder he could see what the fuss was about. Brunette, those hazel eyes.. Could be just the medicine for him after his breakup, he thought. But he'd never break the rules, he added to his thought. Patting the man on his shoulder now, hoping he would stop daydreaming and move on. "What?" Getting a hissed reaction from Danny. "I'm sure she'll fall for your charms if you go and talk to her, but I need food. Now." Frankie had said and Danny had moved on to the food station. "Not sure it is a good idea. I've been single for what? Little over a month?" Danny gave a look to Frankie. "Exactly. You need to get over her." Frankie stated. Hearing a low sigh from Danny, he wondered what he was sulking about now._

 _They had seated themselves a few chairs from the two women. "Not sure I was that deeply in love with her." Danny then said a tone of sadness in his voice. "I'm sure you were." He tried to reassure his friend. "She has a nice smile though." Frankie said as he had glanced at the brunette. "Yeah. She does." Danny had added and he noticed the brunette give a look towards Danny and he gave a smile back at her. Here it goes, he had thought._

"So from that moment on, me and Halsey had to listen about this stunning brunette for the rest of the cruise." Frankie then said giving a look to Kara. "So did you guys then?" Ravit gave a look at her. "What?" She smiled. Frankie's storytelling had helped for a moment. For a moment they weren't thinking about what was going on around them. "Break the rules?" Ravit glanced at Frankie. "Well.." She looked at Frankie. Not sure if Danny had told him.

 _It was a month before they were done with the training mission. Time was going by slowly and then Chandler had come up with organized practice drills on different situations that might occur while on the ship such as a blackout. And of course the emergency generator would automatically go on to restore the power, but it wouldn't power all the lighting._

 _She had been inside of a storage room, feeling her heart beat in her ears as she had heard someone enter the room. And then he had asked her to close her eyes. She should have been scared about it, but she felt excited and it was kinda a turn on. Being in a storage room with a mysterious man during a blackout drill. But his voice had a reassuring tone in it, making her feel safe, that he wasn't going to harm her. So she had closed her eyes and turned around to face the man, even though she couldn't see him. But she felt his presence as he had taken a few steps to stand in front of her._

 _He had then reached to touch her hand and she felt shivers go through her. And when he had placed his lips on hers, she had felt the strangest warmth, like a burning sensation inside of her. Answering to his kiss, she could feel his hands behind her as she moved hers behind his neck. They had then been lost in the moment of passion as they.._

Startled from the conversation they could hear a car approaching. Was it a car? It's engine sounded bigger than Danny's Jeep. Halsey got up from the couch to go by the door and Frankie moved to the window. They could see headlights from a bigger vehicle.

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Since this is a AU story, all feedback is appreciated, so if you have any thoughts about the story, let me know. :)


	4. Chapter 4 - Lay low

4\. Lay low

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The army vehicle they were driving was easy to spot on the road. Even though it wasn't a long stretch to drive back to Coles Point. They thought it was best to find a place to stay low for the day and drive when it was dark. The less people that saw them, the better. In case the people that had come after them from the base would start asking around. They had lost them for the time being and had located an old warehouse just slightly off from the heading they were going.

"Soldiers?" Burk gave a look at him as they were sitting inside the truck. He shook his head, they didn't look like soldiers. More like.. "My guess is some gang members." Wolf then added. "Yeah. It does fit the description." He gave a glance at the two men sitting by his side as he was on the wheel side. "So the world is ending? If the roads were as chaotic as we saw yesterday.. People are doing some desperate things." Burk stated. "And some bad guys turn up." Wolf said taking a sip of water from his bottle.

After a moment of stillness in the group Wolf broke the silence "So how do you all know each other?" Sensing Burk glance towards him, he nodded to Burk. Letting Burk take the lead on filling Wolf in on the details.

"I met Danny on our last training mission, and he knew Frankie and the others." Burk explained. Might as well talk or else the day would be long. Glancing at his clock, it was 9 am. "And Burk knew Kara." He smiled and glanced at Burk. "Yeah, this one got this huge crush on her." Burk chuckled. "I'm sure there's a story there.." Wolf gave a smirk to the two of them. Well he wasn't going to kiss and tell, so this was Burk's lead on the matter.

"All I know that when I was showing him around the ship with his group the first day, we ran into Lieutenant Foster and her bunkmate Granderson." Burk began the story..

" _And here is the CIC, which most likely won't require your presence there during this trip." Burk showed briefly the doorway to the CIC. "And here come two of our hardworking ladies on board, Lieutenant Foster and OOD Granderson." Burk saw the two come towards them. "We've already glanced at them." Burk heard Frankie say with a low voice all the while smiling towards Danny. And Danny's response seemed to be a kick on Frankie's leg. Hmm.. So he likes Foster. Going to be a tough shell to crack, he thought to himself. "Lieutenants." Foster acknowledged their presence in the corridor. "Lieutenant Kara Foster works in the CIC and OOD Alisha Granderson here is on the bridge, helps navigate the ship." Burk introduced them. Hearing a small chuckle from Kara beside him at his introduction. "And here is the group of Navy SEALs placed on the James." Burk then gestured towards the four men._

" _Franklin Benz. Nice to meet you." He saw Frankie smile at the ladies. Rookie, always thinking about the ladies, he thought to himself._

" _Ma'am's. Nathan Smith." Well at least this guy was decent in his manner. Seeing the ring on his finger, no wonder. He's married._

" _Jack Berchem." He saw the over confident smile on his face. Must be the ladies man of the group._

 _And then he eyed the last one of them._

" _And this is our fierce leader, one Daniel Green. He lost his tongue back in Afghanistan." He saw Frankie making his introduction with a rather big smile on his face. He recognized that look, the man was smitten. Huh, he glanced towards Foster. He never had thought about Kara that way. She was beautiful, but there was just something missing, he thought. Then he noticed Danny scowl at Frankie about his little stunt._

" _Danny Green, pleasure." He finally got around to say._

" _Seems like he still has his tongue." Alisha had chuckled and Kara smiled towards her._

"So love at first sight?" Wolf reasoned and gave a look at his way. He never had thought about it like that. Had he fallen in love with her? He thought he knew what love felt like. He thought he had loved his ex-girlfriend. But if it had been love, shouldn't he have felt more hurt and discomfort? "I'm not in love with her." He had the urgency to deny. "Yeah right, keep telling that to yourself." Burk took Wolf's side. Chuckling at the situation, it was going to be a long day before it was dark. But he could play the game too. "How about we talk about you and Ravit." Danny looked at Burk, raising his eyebrows a little. Seeing the look of uneasiness on Burk's face.

"Yeah, I've seen your looks and attempts." He stated and Wolf nodded. He hadn't been blind either.

 _The evening before. "Is this seat taken?" Burk had asked looking at Ravit as he was asking a permission to sit on the couch beside her. Noticing Wolf give a rather strange glance at his gesture as he was sitting on the other side of her. Getting a smile out of Ravit and as she shook her head, he had then sat beside her. As they were sitting there on the couch, he saw Wolf engaging in a discussion with Danny and Kara. Frankie seemed to have his attention with the guys. He felt nervous, he thought she was hot and cute. He didn't know how to charm her, she didn't seem like the kinda woman that would fell immediately over. So he gave it a go "8 Planets, 1 Universe, about 1.735 billion people, and I end up sitting beside you." Hearing her burst out in a laugh, he thought that had been pretty bad. "Not the best line, but I like it." She had then said giving him a smile and left him a little puzzled. Huh, didn't know that would work._

"Hey, it's not easy to make the move." Burk stated with irritation in his voice. "We know. I feel with you." Danny patted Burk on the shoulder. Thinking back to the conversation with Kara during their trip.

" _I was actually quite relieved that you didn't open with a cheesy pickup line." He heard her say as they were sitting in a motel room. "I almost did." He chuckled, he had to admit he had thought about it. Especially when he knew there was obvious chemistry between them, but she didn't know it. Thinking quickly back to the storage room incident.. "What was your line then?" She looked at him. "You look familiar, didn't we take a class together? I could've sworn we had chemistry." He felt the blush on his cheeks and heard her laugh at his line. "Seriously?" He heard her hardly say as she was still amused by his comment_.

It was starting to get dark and they thought they could try and get back on the road. As they were preparing to leave, they were alerted by the sounds of a car driving by. Hoping it would drive by. There had been several cars that had gone by today, but this one was going a little too slow. "Definitely stopping." He heard Wolf say. Burk was readying the Jeep and they heard the doors open. People were getting out of the car. "We need to leave. Try and aim for the tire's." Danny gave a firm look to Wolf and he nodded.

As they drove out of the warehouse and came around the building, there were shots fired at their truck.

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Thank you for the reviews!

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All feedback is appreciated, so if you have any thoughts about the story, let me know. :)


	5. Chapter 5 - The way ahead

5\. The way ahead

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They were sitting on the couch as Danny had filled Frankie, Ravit and Kara in about what had happened on the road and after they had left the base.

 _Burk peeled off from behind to continue towards the cabin as he and Wolf had responded to the gunfire. Hitting both the car tire's and one of the hostiles. Windshield in front of them had a few bullet holes, but it was possible to drive forward. They couldn't follow after them without a car but they might be able to communicate to get reinforcements. They had driven a longer route to the cabin, making sure they weren't being followed. It was a relief to know they were safe for the time being. But it did seem that the way back home wouldn't be easy._

 _As they had come out of the truck they saw Ravit running out of the cabin and placing a hot kiss on Burk's lips. Chuckling to himself, and Burk thought he hadn't made an impression. "Looks like he isn't doing that bad." Wolf stated smiling._

"So what's our plan?" Ravit had asked looking at the three men sitting on the couch. "Norfolk is the safest bet." Burk glanced at Danny. "But if the roads are filled with people.." Frankie stated, looking a little frightened. "I suggest we wait for a day or two. From what we saw out there, everyone is on the move. Getting to a safe zone." Danny reasoned. "Shouldn't we just follow them then? Get to safety?" Ravit wondered. "No. Danny is right. We should try and avoid human contact as long as we can." She shared a look with Danny. "The symptoms are vague. Fever, headaches and exhaustion.. it's impossible to know who might be carrying the virus. The less people we meet, the better." She reasoned and Ravit looked like she understood. "Should think the safe zones are safe.." Wolf had then added. "There is no way to check for the virus. There is always a risk." Frankie said.

"Since Smith left to find his family.." Danny started to say. They were so focused to getting to Norfolk because in their minds the Navy had to have a plan. But they needed to talk about finding their families.

"Well mine is in Boston and New York. Long way from here to there. Given the chaos out there." Frankie told them, looking sad.

"My folks are in Philadelphia, but my brother is with them. He'll keep them safe." Burk said as if to reassure himself that they would survive.

"My Mom is in Norfolk." She added. She was the only one who had family there.

"Ravit's and mine are clearly not here, so.." Wolf said. She might be just 3 hours away from her mother, but these two had thousands of miles between their families and they might never get to know what has happened to them.

"Mine are in Connecticut. I'm sure they are okay. They'll follow the instructions from the authorities." She heard Danny explain. She could sense the fear in his voice. "And my sister.. she's on a cruise in the Bahamas or at least she was.." He then added, knowing that he might never get to see her again. And they had just been at her wedding. She thought back to the day of the wedding.

 _The ceremony had been lovely and she had noticed Danny glance at her way as they had sat in the church. She felt that things had gone pretty good between them, but as she had been standing with Danny in the family pictures, she didn't feel quite at ease with the thought of being portrayed for family albums, when she might not even be part of this family in the future._

 _She did feel strangely happy about Danny and that he had told her that he had it bad for her. She smiled at the thought of him being such a romantic at heart. Working as a Navy SEAL, she thought he was all badass and tough guy, but it seemed he had a softer side. She did wonder why would anyone ever break up with the guy. But perhaps it was the lifestyle he had. Home for short periods at a time. Long distance relationships weren't easy. And how would it be with the two of them if they decided to date for real?_

 _She then felt his hand on her lower back as she was standing on the edge of the dance floor. "You wanna dance?" She heard him ask with a smile. She nodded and took his hand as they walked further to the dance floor and began dancing. "See, everything went well." He looked at her. "Good planning sailor." She smiled at him. Not sure why she felt so girly at the moment. Perhaps it was because she felt his hand behind her back as she was holding her hand in his other hand. The feel of his touch was full of sparks. She then leaned a little closer so that their bodies were meeting and her head was near his chin. She could hear him swallow hard. Chuckling at the thought that she was making him feel tensed, she was intrigued, how much more could she do to him?_

She was coming back from her thoughts as Frankie said "Without any reliable communications, it will be hard to go look for them."

"Even if the cell services go up, there will be millions trying to call or send messages. It won't hold if the demand is too much." Wolf stated the facts.

"So we all agree to try and get to Norfolk?" Danny had then looked around and he got a nod from everyone.

It had been a long night and day, so everyone was getting ready to get some rest, hopefully. It wasn't easy to relax to sleep when your mind was filled with thoughts of the future. If they would survive. If they got to Norfolk and what was waiting for them there?

She was lying under the covers as Danny came in to the room after he had quickly washed up. Not sure how long the water to the cabin would be running.

He got into bed and embraced her from behind, snuggling his chin to her neck. "You are warm." He smiled closing his eyes. "How you holding up?" She asked. Wanting to know what he was thinking. "Taking it a day at a time. I'm sure our families will be fine." He said, not very confidently. There was no possible way of knowing if they ever got to see their families again.

As she was lying in his arms, feeling his breath on her skin, feeling the warmth of him. She felt safe enough at the moment, so when she had closed her eyes, she had been able to fall asleep.

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All feedback is appreciated, so if you have any thoughts about the story, let me know. :)


	6. Chapter 6 - Tinder dating

6\. Tinder dating

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Waking up alone in bed, she almost thought it was just a normal day. The sunlight was glaring through the window and she could see the trees moving in the wind. But then she remembered what had happened in the last two days. Feeling the anxiety in her grow, her worry over her mother and Alisha. She glanced at her phone, still no cell service. She hoped this was just a nightmare and she would wake up soon. But it wasn't. Was the world really ending? Hearing about it all yesterday, how the people are surviving, chaos around them.. She wanted to escape her own mind as she remembered back to the last day she had seen Alisha.

 _Kara never thought she would be doing this, but Alisha had taken her phone as a hostage the other day and created a Tinder account for her. How embarrassing could it get? They were sitting in Alisha's apartment and swiping the screen for Yes or No. She was laughing at the whole situation._

" _No." She chuckled when Alisha decided to swipe for Yes. Oh god would she be in trouble if all the guys would send her messages. "Come on girl, you need some action in your life. Can't just focus on your career." Alisha said giving her a meaningful look. She sighed. She didn't have time for 'action' in her life. She was probably going to leave soon for a deployment anyway._

 _They had just been in the Arctic and were now enjoying some downtime. Alisha was leaving for Paris tomorrow with her girlfriend. So she did wonder what would she do while Alisha was gone._

" _Definitely Yes." Alisha showed the screen to Kara. Blond guy with green eyes and a beard. Was that Danny? "Wasn't he with us in the Arctic?" She realized and gave a look to Alisha. "He's a fellow sailor. So no." She reasoned. "But you gotta admit he's hot? I think he might even look better with the beard." Alisha studied the photo. "Did you talk much to him during our cruise?" Alisha looked at her. "Might have exchanged words briefly. He hung out mostly with Burk and the guys." She said. She didn't want Alisha to know that she might have glanced at the guy a couple of times after their introduction._

 _Okay.. She might have done more than just glance at him. There might have been a few daydreaming sessions about the guy. He was a new face on the trip and it wasn't like she was going to work that closely with him. And especially after the storage room incident, she had this burning sensation inside of her and her need for physical contact was stronger than ever. But no matter how many times she had tried, the feeling inside of her didn't go away. She was half considering to go around the ship and kiss every guy she would find, just so she could find the one responsible for her agony and finish the job. But perhaps she was making the incident to be something more than it really was? Had it been that good? What if no one else would ever be able to make her feel the way he had?_

" _Yes it is then." Alisha swiped the screen and she felt embarrassed. She felt she couldn't face the man. "Alisha!" She exclaimed. "What will I say to him now if he chooses me too?" She leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes. "Here, I think you got enough men now." Alisha handed her phone to her. "I'm changing my passcode!" She said with a smirk and took her phone back. "I know all the codes you might use." Alisha winked at her._

 _Luckily Alisha would be in Paris for a week so she didn't have to worry too much of her meddling in her love life. Then her phone beeped. Looking at the screen. "It was a match." She saw that Danny had chosen her as well. What was she going to do? "You are going to chat with him." She heard Alisha state firmly. Giving an annoyed look at her friend, she wondered what should she do?_

 _Looks like he's on his phone. She saw Alisha nod towards her phone and there was a message on the screen._

" _Hi." Well at least he didn't start with a lame pickup line, she thought. "Hi. What's up?" She wrote in return not quite sure what she was thinking._

" _You were on the Nathan James, right? Carlton's friend?" She was a little more nervous now. He remembered her. "Ooh, looks like he had eyes on you babe." She heard Alisha say in a teasing tone. She chuckled at this. Wondering how could she ever find a way to have her revenge on Alisha._

" _Yeah, I was." She wrote back, not wanting to tell him quite yet that she remembered him._

" _Why do you think he has a profile? Doesn't say anything about what he is looking for." She browsed his profile. "Does it matter?" Alisha eyed at her. She began to think about it. She should want to date and so on, but she had her mind set on her career. Being a Lieutenant in the Navy and hopefully getting to a higher position. When would she have time to date anyway? Half the time she would be on deployments._

" _You up for a road trip?" She saw on her screen. "Hell yeah!" She heard Alisha shout out. Giving her a look, she wondered what she should answer. Getting into a car with a stranger didn't sound like something she would do._

 _But before she could reply, he wrote a new message "I got a family reunion in Orlando and I could use a buffer, if you're up for it. You're just the kind of girl one would introduce to his mother." She started to laugh and Alisha read the message. Looks like he isn't as tough of a guy as he seemed. Afraid of his own mother. But she thought she should at least be impressed that he would think she was the kind of girl to take home to meet your family._

" _You are going girl. You got nothing to do here by yourself." Alisha gave her the phone. "What? It's ridiculous!" She said. "It will be fun. You get to play a little, get out of your shell. Have some fun." Alisha then got up on her feet and did a few dance moves by swinging her hips. "Oh god. I can't do it. It's not me." She chuckled. "Exactly. It's not you." Alisha stopped and gave her a look._

 _With Alisha out of town. And Burk was visiting his family with his brother, but he would return shortly. She didn't have that many close friends. Her only worry was her mother though. Would she be okay if she would be away for a few days? She had just got back after being away for 4 months. But then again her mother had survived the 4 months she had been gone._

" _When do we leave?" She wrote back to him, not sure why she was agreeing to this at all. Alisha's reaction to her decision was to turn the sound a notch higher on her stereos and to dance to the rhythm of the music._

She came back from her thoughts as Danny entered to the room with breakfast. "Thought you needed the sleep." He gave a look at her and placed the coffee cup and a plate with omelette to the nightstand as he sat beside her on the bed. "Thank you." She smiled and reached to kiss him. Placing her hands on his cheeks and as she deepened the kiss, she wasn't all that hungry for food. Sensing that he felt her need to feel connected, she broke off the kiss and took of her t-shirt and pulled his body close to hers as they laid down on the bed.

* * *

All feedback is appreciated, so if you have any thoughts about the story, let me know. :)


	7. Chapter 7 - Just another day

7\. Just another day

x

Waking up to a knock by the door, Danny sighed. "Come on lovebirds!" Burk raised his voice through the door. Glancing towards Kara who was sleeping beside him, still asleep. He wanted nothing more than to just stay in bed and hold her the rest of the day, feel her warm body against his. To fill the emptiness he felt. It felt so surreal that there was a virus spreading around the entire world, infecting people. Deadly virus. He was worried about his family, would he ever see them again?

"Hey.." He heard her voice. "What are you thinking?" She asked moving to snuggle under his chin and he tightened his arms around her. "My family." Was his short reply. "I worry too." He heard her whisper quietly. Only thing he saw as a beacon of hope was her. Even though they had just gotten together, she felt so much more to him already. "I'm glad you're with me." He kissed the top of her head. "Me too." He heard her reply. It made him smile. To know she wanted him.

As they came downstairs a half an hour later everyone was gathered around the kitchen table to eat late breakfast. It seemed such a normal situation and why couldn't they just stay at the cabin? He thought. But they couldn't deny what was going on around them.

"We gotta find some more ladies to the group." Frankie stated, looking around him as Kara was beside Danny and Ravit was sitting next to Burk, but they didn't seem that close. Although he had heard some noises from Burk's room during the night. "2 chicks coming right up." Ravit said with a chuckle, getting a smile out of Burk. "I'm good for the time being." Wolf said with a smile.

"Hey, you never finished the rule breaking incident." Ravit gave a look towards Kara and he wondered what had they been discussing about. "Well, there really isn't much to tell. We just kissed." He saw her glance at his way. So they had been talking about the storage room incident. Thinking quickly back at the moment.

 _He had felt the heat in the moment and the chemistry between them. And she kept her eyes closed the entire time. As they broke off from their kiss, heavily breathing, feeling that they both wished they had the courage to go on. As he was leaving, he heard her say "Thank you." Her eyes were still closed as he exited the room_.

 _And that kiss was the only thing he could think of for the rest of the trip._

"But I didn't actually know it was Danny." Kara added slightly embarrassed and he saw the redness on her cheeks. He had been quite surprised that she had indeed kept her eyes closed the entire time.

"Really?" Ravit looked a little surprised and glanced at his way.

"Found out about his identity just a few days ago." "But my brain was going pretty crazy after the incident, thinking who the guy had been. Could it be Miller, Cruz.." He heard her explain.

"Definitely not Miller. He wouldn't have the guts to talk to you ever again." Danny chuckled. Everyone laughed a bit at the comment. Then his thoughts went on to Miller. Hoping he was alive. He liked the guy.

"So you fell for him even though you didn't know it was him?" He heard Ravit ask and thought back to the second night on their trip.

 _He was lying on the bed under the covers and thinking. He had told her that he thought she was cute and might like her just last night. Her only reply being that she thought he was handsome too. So he did wonder if she liked him. They were getting along great and it was nice to talk with her, he enjoyed their conversations._

 _After his breakup just a few weeks before he had left to the Arctic, he wasn't really thinking of finding anyone to date. But seeing her that first day in the wardroom, talking to Alisha and smiling that amazing smile, he was hooked right away. She was all he thought about and might have mentioned a couple of times to Frankie as they were waiting around in the Arctic when Dr. Scott had her field trips. But he didn't want to jeopardize their careers by going after her and he didn't think it was fair either as he had just gotten out of a relationship._

 _As he had then seen her go in to the storage room the day of the blackout drill, he had tried to come up with something to say to her when she would come out, hoping that she wouldn't think he might be stalking her. And then the blackout drill was in motion, it's not like he had planned it, but he had then entered the storage room and told her to close her eyes._

 _Startled from his thoughts he saw her come out of the bathroom wearing a navy shirt and rather short sleeping shorts, hair all moist and he could tell she wasn't wearing a bra. Her nipples were poking through the fabric of her shirt. He suddenly felt like he was staring at her boobs and tried to focus on something else. Feeling that he was turned on by her like he had been that day in the storage room. This was torture, he thought._

" _You nervous?" She smiled at him as she laid down on her side of the bed, under the same covers he was lying. "A little bit. Sharing a bed with a woman I haven't had any physical contact with.. a little awkward perhaps." He gave a quick reply sounding a little nervous too, he thought. Because he had kissed her and he knew there was definitely chemistry between them and he could almost imagine the way she had touched him in the storage room. "Me too. But I gotta ask, was it true, what you told your family about seeing me in the wardroom?" She was moisturizing her hands with a lotion she had with her. "Every word." He turned to meet her eyes. "So exactly how much do you like me?" She was teasing him. "I don't think I should tell you." He chuckled. "If I am to trust to sleep with you on the same bed, I think I should know the truth." She leaned a little closer to him and he was seeing those nipples again through her shirt and he wasn't sure how he would survive the night with her in the same bed. "I have a crush on you, a pretty bad one." He admitted, thinking it was best to be honest. Seeing her smile at him "I never thought to say this, but I like you too."_

 _He was lying awake beside her as she had already fallen asleep. She liked him back, he was smiling at the thought. Hoping he wouldn't screw things over with her. He would have to tell her eventually about their first kiss._

"Seems that way." She gave a glance at him. "But I owe a big thanks to Alisha." He could see the sadness on her face. Alisha. They didn't know anything about her. She was all the way in France.

"So when do we leave?" Burk asked, breaking the moment. Bringing everyone back to reality. Back to the world where there was a deadly virus spreading.

"With all the equipment from the base there isn't much room in the Jeep for the six of us. We need to go and look for a second car." Wolf said glancing everyone by the table.

"If we find a car today, we can leave tomorrow." Danny said looking at the group. He felt like somehow he had gotten the role of the leader in their group. A position he was used to, but they were not _on the job_ right now. They were a group of friends.

* * *

Thank you for reading!

All feedback is appreciated, so if you have any thoughts about the story, let me know. :)


	8. Chapter 8 - On the road

8\. On the road

x

Kara was sitting outside of the cabin and she heard Ravit come and sit beside her. "Sorry if there was some noise during the night." Ravit said and she smiled faintly back at her. Feeling a little puzzled by this foreign woman. She did seem hardcore, doesn't take any bullshit from anyone, yet she felt Ravit had the urgency to confide in someone. "You don't have to apologize." She said looking to the forest, seeing glimpses of the Potomac river. "I like him." Ravit admitted. "I think he's into you too." She shared a look with Ravit. "Well after last night I hope so.." Ravit smiled.

 _She had walked into Burk's room without a knock. He had been lying on his bed and looked rather startled when he saw her standing in his room. She smiled to herself, seeing the obvious uneasiness she made him feel. Without a word she had walked over to him and placed herself on top of him and kissed him. Feeling first his touch a little unsure, but advancing to more rather quickly and in the heat of the night she might have been quite vocal as she had felt very much alive._

 _The following morning she had woken up and she could feel someone looking at her. As she opened her eyes, she had met him gazing at her. "Hi." Was his short comment to her and she saw he was a little tense again, it was sweet that he was still nervous around her even though they had done some wild stuff last night. "That all you have to say after the night we had?" She chuckled and gave him a teasing look. "Well.. I.. I think you're cute and stunning, not that last night had anything to do with it." Burk had managed to say, but she could hear the nervousness in his voice. "Your not that bad yourself." She smiled at him and moved to kiss him. Wanting to feel his hands on her body again.._

"Please leave the dirty details to yourself.. He's a friend." Kara chuckled. "You understand?" Ravit met her eyes and she nodded. She knew. That's why she had needed Danny this morning as well and she sensed he had needed her too.

"You got family back home?" She thought to ask. Get to know Ravit. They just might become friends. And who knew what would happen to them. If they got to Norfolk at all. "My parents died when I was younger. I have a little sister." Ravit told her. Seeing that the subject was painful to her.

"Sorry about your parents." She reached to hold her hand. Thinking that they both needed the comfort.

* * *

Danny and Burk had found a van on their trip around Coles Point. They were studying the map of the area. "So we drive down to the 360 and continue towards Gloucester." Burk pointed the map. "There's probably a safe zone there, but we all agree to continue towards Norfolk?" Danny glanced at the group. "I think we all agree on that." Frankie stated looking around.

She looked at Danny, he seemed a little tense, but no wonder he was a leader. He took the lead on planning the trip and he listened to suggestions from the rest of them. They didn't know what to expect when they got on the road tomorrow. And the fear of meeting the wrong kind of people. What if they would come in contact with the virus?

The following day..

She was sitting on the backseat with Halsey beside her. The roads seemed pretty empty, but there were a few cars that had driven by and each time they felt the fear, what if it will turn around? She could also see that some cars were parked by the road, some had even driven off the road. It looked like it had been a smart move to wait for two days, avoid the clusters of people on the move. Not wanting to think about what she was seeing, she thought about the first day with Danny on their road trip.

 _Sitting on the passenger seat of his Jeep, looking at the scenery from the window. Every now and then glancing at his way. She still wasn't sure if this was such a good idea. And she felt just a little awkward that she was on a road trip with the guy she had daydreamed about. Now she actually had to talk to him._

" _So why do you think we were at the Arctic?" She asked trying to find some topic to discuss. They couldn't just be still the entire time. He chuckled. "I don't know. But escorting those scientists wasn't peachy." He gave a look at her. "There are some bets going on about why we were there and why the ship was at EMCON." She continued. "Afraid we don't have anything to talk about?" He asked. "That depends. How afraid are you of your mother?" She asked smiling. "What makes you think that?" He looked puzzled. "Why do you need me then?" She asked looking at him, sensing that he felt a little nervous. Was there something he wasn't telling her?_

" _It's actually not a family reunion, it's my little sisters wedding." She heard him say with hesitation. "What? I'm your date to a wedding?" She looked stunned and suddenly felt so nervous. She hadn't even packed anything suitable for a wedding. "Well I RSVP'd with a plus one and I couldn't have known that the situation would change." He tried to explain. So he had been dating someone. "And then I forgot to change the invite before the trip to the Arctic and when I got back, my family was thrilled to know that I wasn't coming alone." She listened to him explain the situation. This was going to be a disaster, she thought. "You broke up with someone?" She had to ask. "Well she left me. We had been together for a year and a half and she didn't like the long distance relationship we had." He glanced at her. "Oh. Sorry I asked." She said looking out the window. "Don't worry about it. I promise you it's just this one time." She saw him smile at her. "Your buying me a dress." She gave him a look and smiled. Hearing him chuckle at her comment._

" _So that's why your profile didn't say what you were looking for. Just tried to find the first girl who swiped for Yes." She looked at him. Noticing that he seemed a little more nervous. "And you were looking for a good time." He stated glancing at her. "It says that? Oh, I am so gonna get back to Alisha when she comes home." She felt so embarrassed right now. "It wasn't you?" He gave a wondering look at her. "Alisha created the account because she wanted me to get out." She explained and she saw him smile a little too much and wondered what was his real agenda here._

" _So where you from?" He glanced at her. "Kansas, grew up on a farm. You?" She replied and looked out the window again. "Connecticut." Was his short reply._

" _Siblings?" She heard him ask. "Only child." She looked at him. So what was this now? Speed dating? Getting to know each other because they had to know details of each other by the day after tomorrow._

" _Well I have a little sister, her name is Annie. Three years younger than me. Got also a little brother Luke, he's in college." She heard him tell her. "And your parents?" She was still looking at him, wondering why had he chosen her? "My father's name is Travis and my mother's is Sheyla." He told her._

" _So what exactly are we going to tell your family about us..?" She thought to ask. "Well we can say we met on a mission and been dating a while." He gave the explanation so casually. "This won't go well." She stated while she shook her head. "Trust me. All will be fine." He smiled. Had he done this before then? Pick up a girl saying I need a date to a family thing. "You do this often then?" She smiled. "No. I trust you." He reassured her. Trust her? He didn't even know her and he was trusting her. She felt so puzzled by him._

She must have fallen asleep because they had reached Gloucester pretty fast. Suddenly realizing that they had stopped on a gas station just before hitting the center of the town.

She, Halsey and Ravit where waiting in Danny's Jeep. The rest of them were talking logistics as they didn't know what was waiting for them in Gloucester. Agreeing on a rendezvous point if things went south. Norfolk was just an hour and half away. Did they really need such a detailed plan in getting there? So far they hadn't seen anything else than a few moving cars.

They were driving down the George Washington Memorial Highway in Gloucester when they noticed a road block made out of cars in front of them. Deciding it was best to turn around and drive to the closest exit a few yards back, they needed to find an alternative way to get through.

But as they drove off from the highway, they quickly noticed that they were being followed..


	9. Chapter 9 - Escape

9\. Escape

x

Kara was sitting inside the restaurant they had picked as a rendezvous point. Located just before the bridge to Yorktown. Nick's Spaghetti & Steak House. Wolf and Burk had found some steaks and had cooked a meal for them. But she wasn't hungry. She couldn't help but think about how he had told them to get out of the car.

Danny had maneuvered the car through a car wash making it possible for her and Ravit to get out of the car. She still felt the bruises on her body as she had jumped out when the car was still moving a bit. She didn't seem to understand the point of it, she and Ravit had been taking shots at the cars behind them. Crippling one of the cars by shooting at the driver which had then lost control of the car and crashed. They could have helped more. But Danny wasn't hearing it.

" _Kara! Ravit! You'll jump out of the car when I tell you to." He had glanced at her on the backseat. "No!" She had protested. Ravit shook her head as well._

" _This is not open for a debate." He had stated firmly in his best leader expression. "They are after us." He had then said a note of fear in his voice._

" _We'll meet at the rendezvous point." Frankie had said reassuringly._

" _I'm not going." She said fiercely, glancing at Ravit who didn't seem to look afraid either._

 _But as they were taking in heavy gunfire, the back window was shot into pieces. She and Ravit took cover on the backseat with Halsey._

 _Danny had then driven the car into the car wash and yelled for them to get out as he had slowed down just a bit._

 _She had felt her pulse in her throat as she had taken cover inside the car wash, hearing the cars outside, but they were still after the Jeep. She and Ravit had waited for a while. Seeing that it was safe to leave the place, they had confiscated a car parked outside, but when she and Ravit had arrived at the restaurant, all they could see was Wolf and Burk. Danny and Frankie weren't there._

She just couldn't understand what had been the point of it all. Why? It was already evening and they were still gone. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she had began to care about him. Sure, they had just gotten to know each other, but she felt that she liked him, a lot. And it was hurting inside of her that he wasn't with her. She was all alone now. She only had Burk left now. And Ravit. And Wolf. Even Alisha was gone. Feeling the tears gather in her eyes she started crying. And then she felt the warmth of someone giving her a hug. It was Ravit.

Opening her eyes after the long night on the linoleum floor, tossing and turning, not finding a peace of mind to sleep longer than a half an hour at a time. He was still gone and it was the following day. She knew they had to continue towards Norfolk. She knew they had waited long enough. They weren't coming..

* * *

Sitting tightly in the van as Wolf was driving and Ravit was sitting half on Burk's lap, when she was on the middle seat.

"They know where we are going." Burk had said, trying to make her feel better.

"I'm sure they are alive and kicking." Wolf had added giving a glance at her way.

"Come on. They are Navy SEALs. They've seen worse." Ravit reached to touch her hand and she glanced at her, nodding briefly.

Approaching the Naval base in Norfolk they saw the armed guards from a distance. The ones on the gates had hazmat suits on. Glancing at each other, they hoped these were there own people. As they parked the car down the road and came out of the car. They felt the need to hold their hands up in the air like they were surrendering as they quickly learned that the people guarding the base had guns pointed at them.

"Walk slowly towards them." Burk had whispered to them.

"How do we know these are ours?" Wolf had asked.

"They have to be." She said, hoping she was right.

"They haven't shot us yet." Ravit stated the obvious.

Feeling her pulse quickening, the sudden loudness of her breathing as she walked towards the gate.

"We are Navy!" Burk shouted at the people.

"Is Captain Chandler here? Commander Slattery? Anyone from the Nathan James?" She continued.

Glancing at each other, waiting for a response. Had the base been taken?


	10. Chapter 10 - No cure

Before reading this chapter, there is a reference to a suicide in the end. Wanted to give a warning about it, even though I don't write detailed about it.

* * *

10\. No cure

x

Shit, shit shit! Danny was sitting on the floor in a auto dealer shop with Halsey lying beside him. He and Frankie had crashed his Jeep when they had tried to get away from the cars chasing them. They had targeted his Jeep more than the van so they had to be the same group of people who had been at the base. Why else would they be so interested in them?

 _They had managed to grab their hazmat gear before the two remaining cars reached them. Running quickly away from the line of sight, they had then geared up. Wasn't easy to maneuver around in a suit and a oxygen tank on your back, but they couldn't take any risks. Risk of being exposed to the virus. Not only were they running away from a gang with guns, they were also trying to avoid getting infected._

 _But in the end what good did it do? Frankie was shot in the arm, through and through. As they had taken cover in the auto shop, sitting behind the desk, Frankie was bleeding. It was getting hot inside the suits and Frankie had taken his mask off, completely forgetting that they hadn't checked the shop for infected people. Stupid mistake, he thought._

 _Glancing quickly around them, trying not to blow their cover in case the hostiles were closing in on them. He didn't see anything suspicious. But then he heard Frankie's voice._

 _"Danny.."_

 _Seeing that he was pointing to an office in front of him. Shifting just a little he could see the there was a body inside there. Lying behind the desk._ _Sighing to himself,_ _he could see there was a lot of blood on the person's face. Was that how death looked like? There wasn't much he knew, but the Red Flu wasn't called red without a reason.._

* * *

"The bleeding has stopped." He attended to the wound on Frankie's arm as he studied his friend. He had a look on his face, a look of a dead man.

"Don't give up, not yet." He said to him, even though he knew there was no cure. God, why had he taken off his mask? He should have known better.

"Just go and leave me be." Frankie met his gaze.

"We've been through thick and thin. I'm not leaving you." He said a touch of anger in his voice. How could he think he would leave him behind?

Hearing a chuckle from Frankie. "Remember when things were normal?"

"Just a week ago we were discussing completely normal things back home." Hearing Frankie continue on.

" _So you got a date yet?" Frankie had come to the doorway to Danny's room while he was lying on his bed looking at his phone. "Actually yeah." He heard him reply and he had this weird look on his face._

" _Who's the lucky girl?" He looked at him. "The one from the ship.." was his reply and he knew who it was. A certain Lieutenant, but he had to ask "The one you have a crush on?" He gave a look at Danny with a smirk on his face._

" _I don't have a crush.." Seeing that he got up to sit on the edge of the bed and tried to finish his sentence. "You like her, admit it." He interrupted him._

" _She's cute." He heard him say. Hah, just cute? The man had been going on and on about this sexy brunette, so there was definitely more to the case than her being just cute._

" _So you wondering if she likes you back?" He moved to sit on Danny's bed and then Halsey appeared from under the bed. "Hey girl." He began petting the dog._

" _I don't know. It says on her profile that she is looking for a good time with a wink." Danny told him as he began packing his bag. So that's what it was about._ _Did she like him for real or not?_

" _So same as you then." He said smiling. "Perhaps I want something else than fun." He saw Danny give a glance at his way._

 _Wow, hearing those words out of Danny. He didn't know he was that serious about the girl he had hardly talked to. "Ooh. Are you in love?" He then said teasing the man a bit._

" _So what are you going to do while I'm gone?" Hearing that his question was an obvious attempt to change the subject._

" _Renting a boat and a cabin with the guys and going fishing. Enjoy the waters." He replied, hearing Danny chuckle at his answer._

" _We've just been at the sea and now you want to get back?" Danny asked._

" _You know I like fishing." He had then stated. "What are you fishing then?" He noticed the wink he gave at him. "If I happen to meet some pretty girls on the way.." He answered with a smug smile._

 _Smiling at the memory of that day. Talking about normal stuff. Talking about Danny's big crush. Talking about enjoying life. He loved fishing and the outdoor life. Not really what a boy who grew up in a city would do, but beneath the cool exterior of his tough guy act, he was more down to earth guy._

 _He knew better than to just take off his mask, but he didn't want Danny to know he had felt the sudden fear of panic come over him. Seeing his vision blur inside the mask as his breathing had gotten quicker. Feeling like there was a stone pressing down on his chest._

 _He was trained for these kind of moments, but yet somehow at the moment he made an error in judgement. And now it had cost him his life._

Smiling at the memory Frankie had told him, he hadn't seen the gun he had taken. The gun he was holding against his throat.

Meeting Frankie's gaze as he shook his head at him. "Frankie, no!" He shouted out and reached for the gun.

As they were struggling, the gun went off.

* * *

I hope you are still enjoying the story. :)

This is my first AU so would be nice to hear some thoughts about it, would help me to make improvements if needed and to see how far to take this story. :)


	11. Chapter 11 - Norfolk

11\. Norfolk

x

She saw one of the men at the gate say something to his comm. Everyone was standing still, she could hear her breathing loud and clear. If they weren't on their side, surely they would have fired at them, she thought.

"This is protocol, I'm sure." She whispered out loud. Trying to convince herself that there might not be any danger. Trying to hold her posture when all she felt was her heart bumping in her ears. Not sure if she could move a muscle if she had to.

Then they saw someone approaching them behind the gates, wearing a hazmat suit. She tried to squint her eyes and see who it was, but it wasn't easy to see behind the mask.

But as the person gave an clear order for the men to stand down she felt relief. _They were their own people_. Sighing to herself, she then felt lightheaded and she collapsed on the road.

* * *

Waking up, opening her eyes, she saw Burk lying beside her on a cot talking to Ravit, who was sitting on her cot. Where were they? She looked around and she could see they were inside a isolation tent. Feeling the sudden pain on her forehead she reached to touch it and she felt a bandage around the sore spot.

"Hey, hey." She then heard Wolf beside her. "Here, drink a little." He offered her water and she took it. She was thirsty. What was going on?

As she had woken up, they filled her in on everything.

She was completely stunned by the news. Apparently there was a cure in the making, well at least there was efforts made towards discovering a vaccine, but there was no breakthrough. Not yet. But as it turns out their "training mission" to the Arctic had just been a cover up. The real mission was Operation Bluenose. To find the Primordial strain of the virus, in which Dr. Scott had succeeded. But as they had returned to Norfolk from their mission, the virus had suddenly began to spread like wild fire in a matter of days.

It was now at Phase six.

Being interrupted by Dr. Scott herself as she came to stand outside the tent. "I have good news. You are not infected." She gave a smile towards all of them.

* * *

The following day she woke up in a bunk on the barracks located on the base. She looked at the clock on her wrist. 09 am. She didn't have any energy in her to move, but she knew she had to report to Captain Chandler and Commander Slattery. All she thought of was Danny. Where was he?

Just a week ago they had been in Orlando. Picking out a dress for the wedding. How could the world change in a split second?

 _They had arrived in Orlando around three in the afternoon. And they were now shopping for a dress. She didn't feel quite home in the store with the fancy dresses. "What color is your shirt?" She glanced at him as she was looking at the dresses. "White." Came his short reply and she saw he did seem a little nervous. "Well, that won't do. I can't wear a white dress." She said. "How about this one?" She saw him show her a gown in navy blue color. "I wear that color almost every day." She glanced at him. Then she saw a strapless long dress in the color plum. She would also need shoes and a purse to go with the dress. This was going to cost him, she thought._

 _She glanced herself in the mirror as she wore the dress, it fitted her perfectly, but she felt a little naked on the shoulders, but then again she was going to have her hair open, so perhaps it didn't matter. What would Danny think, she wondered. Smiling at the thought, she then stepped outside from the dressing room and looked at him as he saw her. Seeing that he looked a little stunned about her appearance and she couldn't help, but blush a little because she wasn't usually getting this much attention. "I need shoes and a purse too." She added smiling at him. It took a moment for him to answer her, so she thought the dress was probably perfect._

* * *

As she knocked to the office of Captain Chandler, she saw Commander Slattery there as well. Burk, Bivas, and Taylor too. After the Captain had motioned them to sit down, they were puzzled to find out what would happen next.

"As you all have heard about our real mission to the Arctic.." Chandler began to tell them.

So when the Nathan James had come back to Norfolk, both Chandler and Slattery had been informed about the true nature of their mission. Thus allowing them to start planning the safe zones around Norfolk, plan the evacuation for the base if they had to relocate and the most important task at hand, keep Dr. Scott and her research protected. So the Navy had had a plan all this time, they knew this was coming.

Burk, Bivas and Taylor would be working with others to secure the safe zones as well as lead the scavenging tours around the city. Trying to find supplies, food and medicines. That is, if they decided to stay on the base. Hers and Burk's enlistment wasn't up yet, but their commanding officers seemed to understand that with the virus being as deadly as it is, a lot of the enlisted people had chosen to stay with their families. There was no way of knowing if Dr. Scott would succeed in her mission to create a vaccine for the Red Flu.

She was about to leave after the others when she heard the Captain. "Lieutenant Foster, a word?"

"Sir." She turned to face him. Standing in formation even though she wasn't sure whether it mattered in the end.

"Lieutenant Burk here said that your mother is in Norfolk." She saw Chandler look at her with a touch of softness in his eyes. "We can arrange an escort for you to go and find her." He had then continued.

Nodding to him. She hadn't even thought about her mother that much. Guess she had given up on the thought that she might see her again.

"We have made a safe zone for the families of the enlisted in one of the towns hotels, Harbor Tower Apartments." Chandler explained.

"And another thing. As we are short staffed, given that many of the enlisted feel their place is to be amongst their families. And Dr. Scott isn't making any progress on the vaccine. We need to keep our options open." He continued eyeing at her. She felt a little uneasy under his gazing look, not sure where he was going with the matter.

"Sir?" She replied with a puzzled looked on her face. Glancing quickly at Slattery who was standing still by the window.

"I want the Nathan James to be completely functional in case we need a plan B. And Commander Garnett could use your help." He revealed his plan. "So, you up for being TAO?"

She was shocked. She felt she was more than capable of the task of running the CIC, she just didn't think she would get her chance when the world was ending. But hearing what Tom Chandler said next was even more disturbing.

"Lieutenant Commander?"

What? She was being promoted? Feeling that she quite didn't deserve all of this at the same time, not in a crisis like this.

"Thank you, sir. But.." She began to argue against him. But Tom Chandler was quick in his moves as he raised his right arm up and asked to repeat after him.

After she had taken the oath again, Chandler did tell her that her promotion wasn't just because of the fact that they were missing their original TAO, LCDR Barker. But that they had been planning this and as she heard Chandler reassure her that he trusted in her abilities, she did allow herself to feel some pride over the fact that she was now a Lieutenant Commander.

* * *

Thank you for reading. :)


	12. Chapter 12 - Decisions

12\. Decisions

x

He could still hear the ringing in his ears. The gun had fired as he had tried to stop Frankie from pulling the trigger.

He had managed to get Frankie into a car and drive off from the shop. Locating a house on a neighborhood nearby. He was lying on the floor in the living room and Frankie was lying on the couch. They were still alive, still breathing. Remembering back to the conversation on the car ride over.

" _I told you to leave!" He heard Frankie yell at him from beside him._

" _You are going to run out of oxygen.." Hearing from the tone of his voice that Frankie had given up. He had then stopped the car on the side of the road and taken in a deep breath._

 _Thinking of it all. What had happened in the last week. Thinking of Kara.. Thinking about their first night together_ _. Smiling at the memory. Memories were the only thing he had of her right now.._

 _As he was drying himself after the shower, he felt a sting of sadness that their trip was becoming to an end as they would leave tomorrow. He got his boxers on and exited the bathroom and went towards the bed. Noticing that she was lying on her side under the covers. As he came closer he could see she wasn't wearing her shirt from the night before, a little startled what she was doing lying in the bed without a shirt. He felt his heart beat raise as he laid down on his side of the bed watching her as her eyes were suddenly following his every move. What was she doing?_

" _Too warm tonight or..?" He smiled and gave her a look as she was lying on her side towards him. Seeing her smile at him, he was puzzled by her. He saw her blush a little, wondering what was going on in her mind as she then got a little more closer to him, he could feel her place her arm on his chest. Tensing by this sudden action he turned more towards her and she reached to kiss him._

 _He was moving his hands around her back as they kissed. Feeling the excitement in the touch that he had missed. It hadn't changed a bit. He could feel he was getting turned on by her and wondered how far would she go. She didn't have shirt on or a bra. And then she suddenly broke off the kiss and looked at him a little startled. "It was you." She met his eyes and he realized what she meant. She knew it had been him in the storage room._

 _He nodded to her and wasn't sure what he could say in his defense. He was half expecting her to bail or yell at him. But instead she placed herself on top of him and he quickly learned she wasn't wearing a thing under the covers. The covers that were not covering her anymore. She was looking at him and he was most definitely looking at her. Feeling his erection grow and touch her, only his boxers keeping them apart. He sat more up to embrace her and to kiss her soft lips as she embraced him._

 _Coming back from his thoughts.._

 _"There's no cure." He had said out loud looking at Frankie as he pulled of his mask._

" _Are you crazy? Put the mask back on!" Frankie yelled at him, trying to push the mask back to his face, but he had taken it off already._

" _It doesn't matter when or where I die! I'm not leaving you behind!" He yelled at his friend. His best friend. He had known Frankie for years. He trusted him. Frankie always had his back while on a mission. He wasn't going to turn his back on him now._

As he was lying on the floor his thoughts still went to Kara. Even though they had gotten close to each other over the last few days. There was still no stopping of the virus. How long would they survive hiding in a safe zone or at a base in Norfolk? How long could they evade the people after them? It seemed there was a new order rising and the future was uncertain. And just because he felt the connection between them, didn't mean there was deeper feelings at play, he thought. But he had seen the look on her face back in the car as he had ordered her and Ravit out of the car.

He only had wanted her to be safe.

* * *

Two weeks later..

* * *

The virus had spread quickly over the last two weeks. Despite of their best efforts to maintain order around the safe zones around town, one safe zone had been compromised. And the remaining survivors had started to talk, whether the Navy was really invested in saving them as they thought the Navy had more tighter security around the hotel where their own family members were staying. Where her own mother was staying. She could see the frustration on Chandler's face.

Dr. Scott had thought she made a breakthrough with discovering a vaccine prototype, but as she had witnessed the death of all the monkeys they had taken from the Virginia Zoo, she seemed pretty hopeless for their cause as well. Didn't seem there was light in the end of the tunnel. Was it all worth it? What was the point?

Looking herself in the mirror as she washed up before heading for the morning meeting. She saw the bags under her eyes. She wasn't sleeping enough. The long days at the base, on the James. Teaching some new recruits, more like volunteers, how the CIC works. It was tough and it was taking a toll on her. And they still hadn't heard a word from Danny or Frankie. She still felt this ache inside of her when she thought of him. Puzzled by her reactions to him being missing, even though she had admitted to herself that she might feel more than just fondness for him. Her thoughts went back to the evening she had met his family.

 _They had confirmed dinner plans with the Green family in a restaurant near the hotel. She was walking beside Danny to the restaurant, feeling butterflies in her stomach, because she was going to meet his family for the first time. They were suppose to seem like dating and even though they weren't actually dating, she did wonder if they some day might actually date for real. He did seem like an alright guy to her after the short time she had spend with him._

 _As they made the introductions by the table, they had sat down to enjoy their meal. She felt a little too much in the spotlight as Danny's mother was asking a lot of questions from both Danny and her. "So how did you guys meet?" She heard his mother ask. Before she could say anything Danny was answering for her. Thank god he was a quick thinker. So she listened what he came up with._

" _Well we were on the ship while in the Arctic and on the first day when I walked into the wardroom I saw her. Sitting by the table and looking stunning in her uniform and her hair tied at the back. Talking with a friend and when I saw her smile, it was mesmerizing." He said as he gave a short glance towards her. She was completely out of words and she thought she saw him blush a little. Was the story true? Perhaps he was more into her than he had told her. She was a little restless at the thought, but the excitement of his affection was more thrilling. She gave him a smile which probably was a little too much, because he added "Exactly like the smile now."_

 _And then the conversation went on to various themes about Kara's previous life. It seemed that they were liking her and Danny was out of "trouble". But when her mother had asked what she would do with her career if they were to start a family, he was empty for words what to reply. They weren't even dating and she was going to have to come up with a reply to a question that she didn't even know the real answer to. What would she do? She would have to be on shore duty during the pregnancy, but would she stay at home the rest of her life? "We haven't discussed that far yet. I guess I would be stationed on a base if I were to stay in the Navy." She said, hoping it was a reasonable answer. "Mom, I think it's too early for questions like that." He had then said taking a sip of his wine. "Well, you aren't getting any younger." She heard his mother say and give a look to his firstborn son._

Suddenly feeling even sadder of the memory of meeting his family. They had seemed so nice and they might not have survived.

* * *

"So you need more monkey's?" She heard Chandler's voice as they were sitting in a meeting room at the base. Lieutenant Burk, Master Chief Jeter, Commanders Slattery and Garnett were attending as well. Along with the two scientists, Dr. Rachel Scott and Dr. Quincy Tophet.

"It's not that easy. I haven't figured out why the prototype failed." Rachel stated a tone of desperation in her voice.

"Even so, I gather you are going to need more monkey's." Chandler continued.

"So we try another a zoo?" She suggested glancing around the room.

"Salisbury was empty." Slattery stated the cold hard fact.

"Then we go further inland." Burk was hopeful.

"Not every zoo has the type of monkeys we need for our research and there's no guarantee to find them alive." Rachel explained.

"What do you suggest then?" Hearing the voice of Chandler tighten up.

"The closest place to have the type of monkeys I need is either Puerto Rico or Nicaragua. But Puerto Rico is a hot zone for the Red Flu." Rachel made the suggestion, knowing what was at stake.

Glancing at Chandler, she could see he was thinking about it. But they needed a crew.

"Slattery, Jeter. Inform everyone that we need a skeleton crew and that the mission is voluntary." Chandler said sighing quietly to himself and meeting Rachel's eyes.

It was a risky move, but what else was there to do? Should they just give up and wait for the virus to take them out? Or was it worth fighting to the bitter end?

As she was walking away from the meeting room she saw one of the guards that was usually by the gates waiting for someone. Waiting for her?

"Commander. Come with me." She heard his words and she was slightly puzzled over the situation.

She felt her hands shake a little when she was putting the hazmat suit on. Had someone specifically asked for her at the gate? Was it Danny? Suddenly feeling a little hopeful that they had indeed survived after all, but sighing to herself that it was best to not hope anymore.

She was standing at the gate, glancing at the car in front of her. Noticing a dog sitting on the passenger seat and seeing a man on his knees on the ground, hands behind his head.


	13. Chapter 13 - Hope

13\. Hope

x

1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5.. 6.. 7.. 8.. 9.. 10.. 11.. 12.. 13.. 14..

14 days ago he had taken off his mask. Exposing himself to the virus. But yet he was still here.. Puzzled by why?

As he was kneeling down in front of the gate facing the guards that held him at gunpoint. He saw a figure come out in a hazmat suit and issue the order to stand down.

Thank god, he thought and closed his eyes and took his hands down from behind his head. And then he felt the touch of stiff fabric around him. Opening his eyes he saw the person inside the hazmat suit, holding her hands around him. It was Kara. She had survived.

 _Luckily the wound on Frankie's arm was a through and through. He had tended to the wound best to his capabilities. Using alcohol to disinfect the wound before he had closed it with a home sewing kit. As there was nothing better around. But few days later Frankie became worse.._

 _He broke out a fever.._ _One of the symptoms of the Red Flu._

* * *

He was standing inside the isolation tent as Dr. Scott was running her tests. Waiting for the results. Then he saw Dr. Scott coming into the room with Kara. This was it. He was afraid of the result. Hearing the words..

 _You're infected._

But as he studied the face of Dr. Rachel Scott, she broke out a faint smile. Stating that they weren't infected. What?

"Are you sure the person you saw was infected, Danny?" He heard her question.

"Had to be." He gave a puzzled look towards Rachel and Kara.

"I'm running additional tests to find out more. So in the meantime make yourself comfortable." Rachel stated.

"And Frankie?" He glanced at his friend. Lying still on a bed. He was hooked up with a IV-bag to treat his dehydration, receiving oxygen and Danny could see his heart rate on the monitor beside him.

"Most likely his fever was a result of a infection caused by the gunshot wound. Those antibiotics you gave him stalled the infection. But he has a severe case of blood poisoning." He heard Rachel explain. "We just have to wait and see, he's getting treatment for it." Rachel continued and he nodded to her before she left the room.

"What you did for him was very brave." He heard Kara say as he moved to meet her eyes.

"I would do it again." He said not thinking about how she must have felt. Hear him sacrifice himself for his friend.

"Well he's your family." He heard her say with a tone of sadness. "I guess so. Might just be the only one who's left of my family.." His thoughts went to think of his little sister and brother. His mother and father. He sat down on the floor inside the tent as he leaned his head against his knees.

"Danny.." He could hear Kara's voice behind him and then he felt her back against his as she was sitting on the other side of the tent. God he wished he could touch her, forget what was happening around them just for a moment. To just feel her warm body embracing his. But he was stuck inside of a bubble and he felt the tears burn in his eyes.

And then he lost her.. She wasn't sitting behind him anymore.

Before he saw what was happening she had entered into the tent without a hazmat suit and was walking towards him. He followed her with his eyes as she moved across the tent to sit beside him and placed her arms around him. He rested his head on her chest and he couldn't stop the tears from coming as he let out a sigh. He felt the pain pour out of him.

Next thing he remembered was the sound of Dr. Scott as he woke up, he had been sleeping on Kara's lap on the floor.

"He's immune!" "Frankie is immune." He hardly registered the words as Rachel came inside the tent. Obviously they were out of the woods now.

"What?" He got up and looked as Rachel was checking Frankie's vitals. "I need to draw more of his blood. He might just be the key to create the vaccine." Rachel told them as she was preparing to draw the blood.

"And Commander Foster. I don't think Chandler will be pleased about your stunt." "But I can say you went in after I discovered Frankie's immunity." Rachel gave her a look and then glanced at Danny before focusing on Frankie.

"Commander?" He glanced at her. "Yeah, I got my promotion. Not exactly the ideal way to get it, but the Captain has faith in my abilities." He heard her words.

"Danny, you can leave the tent now." Rachel said as she was done with the blood samples and was leaving.

"I want to stay." He said firmly. Frankie wasn't still safe and he didn't want him to be alone in case he didn't make it.

"I'll stay too." Hearing that she wasn't going to leave either, made him feel slightly joyful.

* * *

Thank you for reading!


	14. Chapter 14 - Marry me

14\. Marry me

 _"Pick out a white dress and grab two golden bands" (Oh Gravity - Falling)_

* * *

Kara

* * *

Frankie was more conscious now. He had pulled through the night. Their mission to find monkeys for Dr. Scott's research seemed to be first priority as the Nathan James would set sail the day after tomorrow. Now that they might be near a breakthrough in making a vaccine for the Red Flu. Thanks to Frankie.

She was standing with Captain Chandler outside the tent. "I heard that you have been here all night." He gave an assessing look at her. "Something I should know about?" He continued.

"Lieutenant Green and I are involved, sir." She met his gaze. "We started dating just before the outbreak." She added.

"I see." "He's a good operator and I spoke to him earlier today. He will join the crew for the mission to Nicaragua." "I hope that won't be an issue." He gave a glance towards Danny as he was sitting beside Frankie inside the tent.

"No, sir." She replied.

"Given the circumstances, I won't give the lecture on the rules, but I do expect professional behavior." She heard him say and she nodded to him. "Understood, sir."

* * *

As she was walking beside Danny towards the James, now that Frankie was feeling a little better and the immediate danger was over. She thought about how she had seen Danny cry last night and how she had went inside the tent. Not giving a damn if she would die with him. She had been staring at him as he was asleep, resting his head on her lap as she ever so gently caressed his hair. At that very moment she had made the discovery that she had fallen in love with him. Despite it being crazy that they had only known for a short time, she knew he was something to hold on to in this world. Who knew how long they would survive? If Dr. Scott would manage to create a vaccine?

As she glanced at him and stopped in her tracks. She had this feeling of clarity inside of her. He might have lost his family and Frankie was the only one left from the world he knew. But she felt he had become a part of her family and she didn't want him to think he had just Frankie.

"Marry me." She said suddenly staring at him as he stopped walking in front of her and turned to face her.

"What?" Seeing the stunned look on him.

"Marry me." She walked to stand in front of him.

"I love you." She smiled at him, hoping a positive outcome in this. Did he feel the same way or had she misread the man?

Noticing his breathing slowing down, him taking a deep breath. He met her eyes as she was waiting for his reply. What was he thinking?

"I love you too." She heard him say like a whisper and she kissed him placing her hands on his cheeks. She felt so happy in the moment.

"And yes, I will marry you." He chuckled as he took hold of her and twirled her around a few rounds.

Danny had changed his clothes and they had then decided to meet with Captain Chandler to talk about their wedding.

Stepping into his office, they had said they had something to announce.

"We are engaged, sir." She took Danny's hand in hers as they stood side by side in front of the Captain. She noticed that the Captain was smiling a bit. Perhaps he wasn't as steely as his exterior seemed to be.

"And we would like you to marry us." She continued, glancing at Danny and noticing him glance at her.

"Well congratulations are in order then, but you do realize I don't have the authority to perform a marriage." Chandler looked at them.

"We know it, sir. But for us it doesn't matter. We are making a promise to each other and we can always make it legal later, if there'll be chance for it." She met Danny's eyes as she spoke.

"Never thought I would say this in the light of things, but I feel like we could use a little happiness in the world for the moment." He got up and walked to stand in front of them.

"I'll accept." He shook hands with Danny and her.

"Is tomorrow good? We don't want to wait." She looked at Chandler.

"With the Nathan James leaving the following day, it sounds just perfect." He smiled.

* * *

She was sitting in front of the mirror in the Captain's quarters on the James. He had lended the space for her to get ready.

She was getting her hair tied up as both her mother and Andrea Garnett were fussing over her.

"Never thought I would see the day." She heard her mother say and she could hear from the sound of her voice that she was almost crying. Touching her mother's hand, she gave a small squeeze to it and smiled at her.

She was wearing Andrea Garnett's wedding dress which had fitted her perfectly. White lace dress with small pearls attached to the fabric. Something old, she thought. And she could see Andrea tearing up as well as she must have been thinking about her own wedding day.

"Thank you for having Lily as a flower girl. She is thrilled." She heard Andrea say and from the mirror she could see the little girl twirling behind them with Tom's daughter Ashley.

The day seemed to be quite perfect. They had managed to pull together a wedding in just 24 hours. And the entire Nathan James family that was left on the base was helping them. Slattery's wife and daughters had taken the responsibility of organizing the reception and cooking food. Not that they needed anything fancy. Chandler's wife Darien and their daughter was in charge of decorating the pier outside the James. Lucas and Sam were flower boys but instead of flowers they would be waving small Navy flags. Frankie was a best man, sitting in a wheel chair though, because he still wasn't entirely in shape. Still receiving treatment for his condition.

But she felt deeply that Alisha wasn't there. If she hadn't pushed her to go on the road trip or to chat with Danny.. This day wouldn't have come. Thinking of her best friend made her feel sad. She still hoped there might be a slight chance, but she might never find out.

 _She had a nice time at the wedding and she really needed to thank Alisha. She was glad she had come to this trip and gotten to know Danny better. But she never thought she would catch the bouquet the bride threw, before leaving the reception for the honeymoon. Danny's mother would be happy though, about the meaning of it, she had thought._

" _Has your mother started the planning of your wedding now?" She smiled at him as they got back to the hotel room. "Probably." She heard him chuckle. "You were definitely a success." He sat himself on the edge of the bed as he began taking his dress shoes off and undressing from his bow tie and coat. She sighed. She did really like his family, his parents seemed so nice and lovely, his mother might be a little more to handle, but she thought she could take it. So as he had disappeared to the bathroom she had made a decision, hearing Alisha's voice inside of her head "What are you waiting for? Make your move!"_

She noticed Ravit come into the room. She had asked her to be the Maid of Honor. She and Ravit had gotten pretty close since they met at the cabin.

Ravit looked stunning in the light blue dress she wore, although looking a little uncomfortable to her eyes. Perhaps she wasn't used to wearing dresses. Burk would definitely drop his jaw when he would see her, she thought. She saw Ravit come stand behind her and place something around her neck "Something blue, something borrowed." Glancing at the silver necklace, it had a blue stone in the shape of a teardrop. She smiled at Ravit and felt she was about to cry. Was the day really this emotional? She thought.

* * *

Danny

* * *

He was standing on the pier in his dress blues looking around him. He had been utterly stunned by her question when she had asked him to marry her. He knew he had loved her from the second he met her, but he wasn't sure whether she would love him back. He had been afraid to admit his deepest emotions to her, but when she had asked him and said she loved him..

" _Marry me." He heard from behind him. What did she say? Feeling his heart beat racing upwards, he turned around and looked at her with a pretty stunned expression on his face._

" _What?"_

" _Marry me." He watched her come stand in front of him. So he hadn't heard her wrong. She was asking him to marry her.._

" _I love you." He saw her smile softly at him. He thought about it, as he studied her face and met her gaze. What little time they would have left in this world, he wanted to spend it with her. He wanted to make the promise to love and to hold, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. All that would matter was their promise to each other._

 _And he loved her too. Feeling the strange feeling of joy go through him as he heard her say she felt the same._

" _I love you too." He said like a whisper, and immediately after he felt her hands on his cheeks as she kissed him._

 _Then he realized how much he really had missed the woman in the past two weeks. Chuckling when he replied "And yes, I will marry you" and then he grabbed her as he twirled her around._

 _She was beautiful_ was the only thought in his mind when he saw her walk down from the Nathan James towards him. Walking beside her mother. He felt a sting of hurt and sadness inside of him that his own family wasn't there to witness the moment. Knowing how his own mother had wanted to see him happy one day.

 _After their dancing at his sisters wedding Kara had excused herself to go to the bathroom. He was still feeling the excitement go through him as he had hold her so close to him a moment before. Wondering if she felt the same way too. As he stood there he saw his mother appear and he asked if she would dance with him. During their dancing his mother told him that she thought Kara was exactly the kind of woman he needed in his life. Head strong and smart, she would be his equal partner in life. He smiled, it was nice to know that Kara had managed to win over his mother. He knew Kara liked him and however it played out, he was going to make his move soon._

He took her hand from her mother and they stood side by side in front of Captain Chandler.

"Dear family and friends, we are gathered here today.." He heard Chandler's words and glanced at her, seeing her smile as she met his eyes. He never thought that he would be marrying someone just after a few weeks of knowing, but everything he felt inside was telling him that it was just right.

He placed the ring on her finger and saw she was a bit overwhelmed by the ring. A golden band with a medium sized diamond fitted in the middle, a few small stones around it. Something new, he had thought as he had taken the trip to a Jewelry Store in town with Burk. Just because the world was ending, he didn't feel like just taking the rings would be suitable, so he had left all the money he had in his wallet and placed it in the cash register. But he knew the ring was worth far more than he was carrying in his wallet.

As he kissed her in front of their friends and the fellow sailors and their families from the Nathan James, he felt happy. She was now his wife.


	15. Chapter 15 - On the Nathan James

15\. On the Nathan James

x

 _He was running up the hill as fast as he could, feeling a sharp pain in his stomach. He saw her disappear behind the hill. In desperation he shouted out "Kat!" and as he took another look up the hill, he saw the hill transform into Mount Everest and he was standing on the bottom of it. Then out of nowhere he heard the faintest voice._

" _Are you okay?"_

 _Glancing around him, but not seeing anyone. "Who's there?"_

" _He's not wearing a uniform, sir." Another voice said sounding near him._

" _He's hurt." The first voice came back again._

" _Sir. What are we going to do about him?" The second voice again. Where was it coming from?_

 _"Bivas. Take him back to the ship. Put him on quarantine." That voice, where did it come from?_

 _Glancing around him, bright sun stinging in his eyes. "Kat? Is that you?"_

" _Can we trust him?" A different voice this time._

" _Keep your eyes open for hostiles."_

* * *

"How's John Doe doing?" Kara glanced inside the isolation tent in the helo bay where the old man was lying handcuffed to a bed.

"He's delirious, severely dehydrated. I managed to clean and close the wound on his stomach. It was most likely caused by a small knife." Doc Rios explained.

"Is he talking?" Kara asked.

"No, only thing he keeps repeating is, where's Kat?" Doc Rios replied and Kara nodded, leaving the helo bay.

Feeling slightly afraid that they had picked up an unknown man and he was on their ship now. It had seemed like he had taken several hostiles down by himself and gotten wounded in the process. But they couldn't know for sure if he had gotten all of the hostiles. They were short on people and having General Quarters at the moment wasn't an ideal plan.

Their mission to Nicaragua had been a success. They had found the Wild Life Preserve Dr. Scott had told them about. During their trip towards Nicaragua they had also answered to a distress call made by a young girl. She wasn't quite sure what the Captain had thought when he had answered to her hail, but they had rescued the girl. She had been on a boat with infected people, but she had survived and as Doc Rios had tested her, she too was immune. What were the odds of that? She thought. According to Dr. Scott natural immunity was rare.

But she couldn't help but feel that something was off. It had been too easy, she thought.

On their way back to Norfolk, Captain Chandler had decided that they were stopping at Gitmo to gather up supplies and to refuel. Officials had evacuated the base, but there was still a good chunk of supplies left. And they could use all they could find.

As she walked towards the CIC, Ravit caught up with her. She had escorted the man back to the ship. But Green, Burk, Taylor and Chandler were still out there. She felt the uneasy feeling coming over her again. Wasn't the ventilation on the ship working? She felt suddenly very warm. Given the fact that things weren't as strict anymore she wondered if Captain Chandler would allow his crew to just wear normal clothes instead of the standard navy uniforms. It was after all warm in their current location.

"So.. You never answered my question." Ravit gave a look at her way.

"Huh?" She glanced at her way puzzled by what was she talking about now?

"You know.. On scale from 1 to 10, how good is _the_ _package_?" Ravit said with a light tone.

Feeling the sudden redness coming on to her cheeks. _Oh that question.._ "I'm not going to answer that." She chuckled awkwardly. She wasn't going to discuss about how well Danny was equipped and the topic at hand wasn't his choice of guns. And for the other hand, knowing how well Burk would be.. No no. She forced the thought out of her mind. She could discuss other topics, but not this kinda girl talk.

"So how are things going with Burk?" She stopped and looked at Ravit. Trying to change the subject to something more decent.

"I suppose things are going great, given the situation around us." Ravit answered, but she was sensing there was more to it.

"You know Burk is pretty serious about you." She met Ravit's eyes and saw that she seemed a little guarded, was she afraid of something? Remembering back to her wedding.

" _Look at them." She had whispered as she was dancing with Danny. "I'm looking at you." She heard him say and she turned to meet his eyes. "Your beautiful." He had continued. "Your making me blush." She chuckled, but it did feel very thrilling inside of her, hear him say things like that. "Can I dance with her?" She then heard Burk's voice beside them. So they switched, Ravit was dancing with Danny and she was with Burk._

" _You two are cute together." She smiled and she sensed Burk tense a bit. "We are not exactly together, but I like her. I like her a lot." Burk told her with a serious tone. And she saw it in his eyes, he was serious about her and perhaps that's why he felt so nervous around her. "She likes you too. You know that." She reassured the man. Ravit had been worried at the cabin when Burk wasn't there, so she must have deeper feelings too._

"I know." Hearing her answer with a nervousness in her voice and as she took hold of the necklace she had around her neck. The same one Ravit had loaned to her on the day of her wedding. It seemed there was a story behind it.

"You can talk to me. When ever you want." She reached to touch her overarm and gave her a little stroke. Seeing Ravit nod at her, she knew she would eventually tell her.

* * *

The team had scouted the base and they hadn't found any hostiles which was a relief. The warehouse was filled with food, but they would have to work long hours to transport the goods back to the ship.

She was in the head and she faced her own gaze from the mirror. Sighing to herself.

"How far along?" She heard Ravit ask beside her. How had she figured it out?

But it was true. She knew what it was. The sudden feel of being tired, and her period was late and she was almost never late. And when she had smelled Bacon's usually delicious breakfast buffet this morning. It wasn't as delicious to her stomach.

"4-5 weeks I guess." She looked at Ravit. "How did you know?" She asked.

"My little sister was the same." Ravit smiled. Hmm.. So she was an aunt. How was she really handling all of it? She might never get to go back home.

"I thought you were careful?" She heard her ask.

"We have been careful, but sometimes we might have slipped. It hasn't exactly been looking like we are going to make it through this. So.." She explained. She should have known better, but thinking about the state of the world.. Dr. Scott wasn't making any progress that they knew about with the vaccine. So they had been careless a couple of times, but they had taken the risk together.

"You going to tell Danny?" Ravit looked at her.

"Not yet. I wanna be sure first." She met Ravit's eyes and she nodded.

"Congratulations then." Ravit smiled. "Thank you." She smiled back. But her smile didn't last very long as she felt that the news of her being pregnant wasn't all that joyful at the moment. Not knowing if they would survive.

As they exited the head she saw Ensign Mason waiting for them. "Ma'am, there's something you need to hear." He said and they started to follow him to the comms room.

"Listen to this." Mason gave her the headset.

As she listened, her jaw dropped down and she had a pretty stunned look on her face.

That voice..

* * *

Thank you for reading! :)


	16. Chapter 16 - Rescue

16\. Rescue

x

"You're sure of what you heard?" Captain Chandler looked at her as she stood on the bridge.

"Yes, sir. I'm positive. Will Mason confirms it as well." She glanced at the young man standing beside her.

"Mason?" Chandler stared at the man.

"I'm sure, sir." Mason said, stuttering a bit. Even though it was probably the end of the world they knew, it was still terrifying to stand in front of your commanding officer.

"Let us set course to the location then." Chandler nodded.

* * *

 _All she remembered was the yelling, the chaos on the streets. Cars driving like crazy. People were panicking. But she knew they had to get to the Marina. They had to get on a boat. But as she had been rushing through the clusters of people on their way, trying to avoid contact with people as best as she could. She had lost her. She wasn't holding her hand anymore. Turning around she had been looking for her, but she couldn't find her._

 _She was gone._

 _Hoping she would go to the Marina as it was the plan, she had gotten there herself and was rushing by the boats._

 _50ft, too big._

 _35ft, maybe._

 _Then she saw the small sailboat, with a light blue hull. Catalina 275 Sport sailboat. She had sailed one just like it once. She could handle it by herself if she had to. As the boats were mainly for renting she glanced around her to see where the renting office was._

 _She had waited for two days. But she wasn't coming. She had cried her heart out as she thought the last time she had seen her. The last memory she had of her. Where had she gone? Why had she let go of her hand? She felt the guilt on her, she had been too focused to make it to the Marina that she hadn't been paying attention to her._

 _Glancing the scenery behind her, she could hear and sense there was chaos still on the streets. There was even fires burning in the distance. And she saw the familiar figure of the Eiffel Tower against the night sky. Turning to look the horizon in front of her._

 _She had to try. Try to sail across the Atlantic._

She had almost made it, but there was a storm front that had battered her boat and she was of course. Drifting. She was almost out of food and water. She had tried to find as much food and fluids as she could as she had waited for Sarah, but it was hard since there were others trying to survive.

She didn't know if it would make a difference, but she had to try. She took the boats radio and said "Mayday, mayday, mayday.."

Sighing to herself after her distress call, feeling the tears falling down on her cheeks. There was no one to hear her call. And she felt like giving up in the moment. Sarah was gone, she didn't have anyone left. Kara hadn't answered her calls. Her own mother had advised her to not go on her trip at all. Wondering if she had known about the threat all along? Or was it because she was traveling with Sarah..? Her mother had never liked Sarah or the fact that her love interests were female.

Later when she moved to sit on the deck, looking around her. Seeing only ocean.. and a ship. In the far distance she could just barely see a ship, but she wasn't able to tell if it was American or foreign.

She was studying the ship in the horizon and she saw a small boat. A boat that was heading her way. Suddenly feeling afraid.. Her pulse increasing rapidly, hearing her heart thump in her ears as she grabbed the snorkel gear from inside the galley and she jumped into the water.

She had called for help, but what if it wasn't the help she wanted? What if..? Deciding that it was best to stay low and see what the people coming her way wanted. She was hiding on the other side of the boat, trying to hold on to the boat as the waves were splashing against the hull. She was scared, feeling her hands shake as she tried to hold on. Feeling the chill of the water go over her body.

She heard them aboard the sailboat.

"Anyone here?"

"Hello?"


	17. Chapter 17 - What happened?

17\. What happened?

x

"Sir, the boat is empty." Danny said to the comm. When Kara and Mason said they had heard Alisha's voice in that distress call. He thought it was a miracle. She had managed to sail her way over the Atlantic. But now he wondered whether Kara had just wanted to hear her voice so badly that she had imagined it. He knew Alisha was her best friend and she wanted to know she was okay. But then again Mason had also confirmed what they had heard.

"Gather everything you can find and bring it back to the ship." He heard the order.

"Yes, sir." He began to look around. Not much to find, he saw a small backpack which he took and gathered some of the items lying around. A women's shirt, a pen and a couple of papers that were empty. He didn't quite understand what they possible could learn of the items, but he took everything with him.

As he and Taylor got the RHIB secured back up to the ship he saw her coming towards them. Studying her face as she did seem to appear puzzled by the finding they had made, the boat had been empty. He had noticed that she had been a little off the last few days. Perhaps it was all the stress she was going through, she had been more tired lately and the pressure of running the CIC short staffed might be too much for her to handle. He was worried. And now this.. What if she was going crazy?

"This is all I could find." He gave the backpack to her, knowing she would want to see everything with her own eyes. But as she took the backpack he saw her losing her posture. She was crying. He took a step forward to hug her.

"It's Alisha's." She managed to say. Sighing as he hold her in his arms. So she had been on the boat. But where was she then? Had she been rescued already? Puzzled by the revelation.

* * *

"You are certain this belongs to Granderson?" Chandler stared at Kara as they were standing in the wardroom.

"Yes, sir. This is her shirt." He saw her point towards the shirt placed on the table.

"We checked the boat. There was no one there." He said glancing at Kara. She still didn't seem to be okay.

"We have no idea what happened, it can be that someone else beat us to the rescue." Chandler stated.

He saw her look sadden a bit. There was nothing they could do. They had to continue on their mission. To get back home.

And then there was a knock on the door. Mason appeared.

Chandler eyed the young man.

"Sir, I'm not getting any contact from the base." Mason said.

"What?" Chandler asked.

They had last been in contact after their mission to Nicaragua, reporting that they were heading to Gitmo and then continuing towards Norfolk. This was starting to sound bad.

"Should I keep trying?" Mason wondered.

Noticing that Chandler was thinking the situation over and seeing Kara's posture, she must worry about her mother.

"No. If there is no reply from the base that means they have evacuated. We stay in EMCON." Chandler issued the order.

"Heading to North Carolina then? That is the evacuation plan for the base." He heard Kara ask.

"No. We travel back to Norfolk. Keep the Nathan James far from the coast. Take a RHIB and scout the place." Chandler said.

"Sir?" He asked as he met the Captains gaze. Puzzled by his decision. If the base really had been evacuated, there was a good reason for it.

"Something's not right. I want to see it for myself." Chandler gave as an excuse. Seeing for the first time that he seemed afraid, slight hesitation in making this decision to go back even though the base was most likely evacuated.

"Yes, sir." He nodded and left the room. Hearing that Kara came after him.

"Danny.." He heard as he turned around to face her.

"His wife and kids were there. He wants to know." She had then said.

"And Frankie." She added. He hadn't even thought of his friend. But he knew Slattery would have had a plan.

"Doesn't he trust Slattery?" He met her eyes.

"It's not about trust, you never know what might go wrong." She then said.

He only nodded to her. He didn't have it in him to argue on this.

* * *

As the Nathan James was in position they were preparing for the mission to go back to the base. They would leave as soon as it would be dark. He still wasn't sure about this, but there was little he could do about it. Chandler, Burk, Taylor, Bivas and himself would be on the mission. Commander Garnett had wanted to as well, but Chandler stated it firmly, they needed her on the ship. In case something went wrong.

"Hey.." He was holding her in his arms in the corridor before leaving. He sensed she was worried about him.

"I'll be fine." He tried to reassure her.

"Just come back to us." She then said meeting his eyes. And before he realized any of what she had said, she guided his hand on her lower belly. _Us?_

As he gave her a surprised look, he quickly began smiling. Was she pregnant? It was like she read his mind as she nodded to him.

"Is it true?" He asked glancing downwards to her belly.

"It's early, but I'm sure of it." She told him.

"Is it okay?" She had then asked him. Of course it was okay, but he couldn't help but think about the future and what would it held for them and their baby. Would they survive? Without a vaccine it would be hard. He was even more scared of the thought now, would she survive through childbirth? But even though it was scary to not know what would happen, he felt joyful about the thought that they were having a baby, he would become a father.

"Yeah, it is." He answered as he smiled at her and then kissed her soft lips. So this had been the reason why she hasn't been herself lately, he thought. He should have figured it out himself.


	18. Chapter 18 - Radio talk

18\. Radio talk

x

"We are approaching the base. Next update in five." They heard Danny's voice. Kara and Andrea stood on watch on the bridge. Following the mission through the comms. They were at EMCON and had strict orders to not answer them. She saw the fear and uncertainty on Andrea's face. Her husband and daughter had been there. And Kara's mother. Had they had a chance to escape?

"This is Vulture team. The base is destroyed. Most likely by missile fire. Over." She heard Danny's voice shaking a bit as he told them. The base had been destroyed? By who?

"No!" Hearing Andrea shout as she started to cry, Kara moved by her side to hold her. Not knowing what she could say to her. If the base was destroyed by missiles, there was no way they knew it was coming. No way to evacuate in time. Feeling tears form in her eyes as well. Who would want to hurt them?

"We are heading to the hotel. It seems rather intact." Was the next update and they both glanced at each other. There might be a chance.

As Andrea seemed to calm down a bit, she helped her sit on the XO's chair as she contacted the CIC.

"CIC, Bridge. Are you getting any surface contacts?" She waited for a reply.

"No, ma'am. Nothing. Sonar is clear too." Was Nishioka's short reply. She shared a look with Andrea. They just had to wait for the next update.

"Entering the building." Danny said and she heard he didn't close his comm. Probably so that they could listen in on what was happening.

"Looks empty."

"Heading upstairs."

After a while of stair climbing and checking rooms they heard Burk's voice faintly on the comm "Did you hear that?". Was there someone there? Suddenly feeling restless of the idea that there might be hostiles at the hotel.

"Where is it coming from?" Bivas asked.

"There." They could hear Chandler's firm voice just barely.

"Approaching possible target." Danny reported.

"Shhh.." Was the voice on the comm, they weren't sure who made the voice.

"Someone's crying." Burk said.

The next they heard were sounds of moving furniture and opening something made out of metal. Glancing at each other again, they were both startled about what was going on.

"Hey.. Hey there, son." They heard Chandler's voice.

* * *

The Vulture team was returning back to the James after discovering that the base was destroyed, nothing to salvage. They had seen bodies of foreign soldiers on the base, so there had been an attack against the base. They found no survivors, except for one. A little boy.

They moved to wait on the deck as the team was coming up from the RHIB and they saw Chandler carry the boy in his arms. It was Lucas. Mike's boy. She couldn't imagine what Mike must be going through right now, and Christine. Their little boy was missing. If they are still alive, there was no guarantee that they had made it out in time. Chandler walked inside the ship carrying the boy in his arms.

Danny came up and walked to stand in front of Andrea. And the look on his face was sad, he was going to tell her something. "Ma'am.." He started and she went to hug Andrea as he was telling her. "We identified your husband in the building. I'm so sorry for your loss." He informed but she could see he was shaken up about it. Andrea began to cry even more louder in her arms. If her husband was dead, where was Lily? Had she survived?

They were all sitting in the mess afterwards. Bacon had made them some hot chocolate of the last remainders of it on the ship. There was not a single sound around them. Everyone was sitting quietly and every now and then there was a small knock of a cup placed back to the table.

She was thinking through it all. She could feel Danny's arm tightly around her shoulder as she sat in her chair. It felt nice, somewhat normal to have him this close to her. Taking a glance around the room, she saw Ravit and Burk. They were sitting side by side holding hands on the table. She noticed Burk's thumb gently caressing Ravit's hand under his and every now and then Burk gave a look towards Ravit. She recognized the obvious caring in his eyes. He was falling for her, if he already wasn't. She just hoped Ravit would be able to open herself for him, give him a chance. There was something in Ravit's past that she wasn't ready to share just yet.

Shifting her eyes to Wolf, sitting by himself. Seeing the devastated look on his face. He wasn't usually showing any emotions, but she thought he must be thinking of his family. Back in Australia. He was a long way from home.

Andrea was sitting beside Chandler, holding Lucas in her arms. She wasn't crying anymore, just sitting there her eyes closed and holding a child. Probably feeling a small amount of comfort from holding the little boy. And Lucas didn't seem to mind either, he didn't know where his parents where. He wanted to feel his mother's arms around him again.

Glancing at Tom Chandler. He was staring right in front of him into the emptiness. Thinking about what was the next step, she thought. Although his expression was rather speculative.

Nishioka was sitting with Mason. Their families didn't live in Norfolk, more further inland. So they could only hope there was a chance.

Even their mystery man and the rescued girl had made an appearance.

Captain had a talk with the man when he came more clearer in his thoughts and had gotten treatment for his dehydration. Turns out he had taken out all the bad guys on his own and was wounded in the process. So he was on their side for the time being. And he wasn't infected. His name was Tex Nolan.

Bertrise was a young girl they had rescued on their way to Nicaragua. Hearing the distress call and as she had stated she was the sole survivor on the boat, Doc Rios figured that she must be immune to the virus. Just like Frankie.

There were also others in the mess. She didn't know them so well. They all had volunteered for this mission.

The stillness in the group was quickly gone when the Captain realized something.

"Hayward was gone."

* * *

Thank you for reading!


	19. Chapter 19 - Where do we go?

19\. Where do we go?

x

"Does the Commodore know about the sleeping arrangements?" They could hear the half teasing and half amused tone of Tex from behind them. He was feeling much better now and oh boy was he a talker.. He had gotten his own cabin on the same corridor as all of them were staying and he had seen as they had exited the rooms in the morning. Ravit and Burk from one cabin and he with Kara from another.

"We're married, I don't know what their excuse is." He thought to answer. They hadn't exactly run the room switch plan with the Captain, but did it matter right now?

Hearing Burk and Ravit chuckle at his comment. He did wonder if they were solid. Burk was head over heels for the girl. That much he knew. When they had been at Gitmo and Ravit was on her way back to the ship, Burk had felt relief. Although Ravit can most certainly handle herself.

" _You'll get used to it." He had said to Burk as they were moving on the base. Checking the area. He saw the touch of fear in him and it was gone immediately when Ravit had returned to the ship with Tex. "Used to what?" Burk was puzzled. "The fear, although it will never go away completely." He sighed to himself. Even though Kara was on the ship, he still had a crumb of fear nagging in the back of his mind. He saw that Burk realized what he had meant. "Just don't tell her. She'll kick my ass." Burk stated in frustration. Chuckling at the words. Yeah, she would kick his ass if she found out. She wasn't someone to mess with._

* * *

"The evacuation plan didn't involve moving Hayward." He heard Chandler state out loud as they were sitting around the table in the wardroom.

"Did you talk with Lucas? Does he know anything?" He heard Kara ask from beside him.

"He said he saw the ship leave the harbor. From what I concur it must be shortly after our last communication with the base." Chandler informed them.

"But why move the ship?" He asked glancing around in the room.

"They know we have the monkeys and assuming Dr. Scott still needs them.. Slattery must have left a clue behind. That is if they survived.." Burk said and the mood saddened in the room.

They hadn't found their bodies either, so they could only hope for the best. But there was nothing left of the base. How were they going to find a clue in there? He thought. As they all sat still, pondering about it all. He noticed Kara get up and get Alisha's backpack again. Sighing to himself. There was nothing there, he thought.

"Sir. What if it was Slattery that rescued Alisha?" Kara looked at the Captain and emptied the backpack on the table again.

"Perhaps he thought we heard the distress call too? Alisha would know that I would recognize the shirt, the backpack. It's a long shot, but if there is threat to us out there.. He doesn't wanna risk it by contacting us." Kara eyed everyone.

"Sounds just a little too crazy." Ravit gave a look at her.

"And what if we haven't heard the call? What then?" Burk asked.

"But we've gone through the items. There's nothing there." He was stating the obvious. Thinking if he was too negative in his thoughts, was he giving up too easily?

" _Thank you." He heard Frankie's voice when he had made it through the night. "For what?" He_ _asked. Not really understanding what his friend meant. "For not giving up on me, even when I did." Frankie had made a point._

So even now when it might seem he was giving up hope, Kara wasn't. She had something to fight for. Their baby. So why didn't he feel the same? He had Kara and the baby..

Chandler stood up and took a look on the items, not sure what he should look at. Three sheets of blank paper, shirt and a pen.

"Hell of a long shot." Chandler said out loud and looked at the blank papers, turning them around in his hands, like there was something to find in them. But as he was turning the papers, something caught his eye.

"Well, I'll be damned." Holding a paper towards the light. There was a watermark on it. Going through each one of the papers. There were markings in all of them.

"It's a map." He stated as he figured it out.

* * *

"Bells Cay, an island in the Bahamas?" Burk chuckled.

"Looks that way." Danny replied as they were in the helo bay organizing supplies around.

"Hello boys." They heard Ravit enter and she went straight to kiss Burk. Which startled Burk as they were supposedly on duty.

"Get a room, will you?" Tex said amused as he glanced at the kissing going on in front of him.

"Maybe we will." Ravit broke off the kiss and she raised her eyebrows to Burk as she then took hold of his hand and departed from the helo bay with him. Burk seemed a bit embarrassed that they knew what was going to happen.

"Young love? It's sweet ain't it?" Tex gave a look at Danny's way.

"Yeah." He replied, should be in the same phase him too. He was a newlywed for christ sake. But somehow something had changed. He just didn't quite know what.

"Why aren't you snuggling with yours then?" He heard Tex continue on. He didn't even know the man and he was asking about private things.

"We are both busy." He gave as an answer.

"Bullshit." Tex retorted.

He felt like he should shout at the man for digging his nose into his business. "Look, it's none of your business." He said firmly. Hoping it was the end of it.

"Something's bothering you. Why don't you talk about it?" Tex looked at him and he met the man's gaze.

"She's pregnant." He let it out so easily and he didn't really understand why he was talking with Tex about it. They hadn't even told the Captain yet.

"Aah." Tex said like he understood the problem.

"Your worried. Don't know what's going to happen, how on earth will you make it through this. Not to mention how to care for the baby." Tex said.

Hearing Tex name the things made him realize that it was just that. He did feel joy about the baby, but the worry about if they would survive was greater. The heavy burden of another being depending on you to keep her or him safe. He knew he would do anything to keep Kara and their future child safe, but in the state of the world, it seemed at times impossible. Sure Dr. Scott was working on a vaccine, but would she succeed in her task?

"I got one of my own. Kathleen." The old man told him.

So he knew how he felt. And he didn't even know if his daughter was alive. And here he was worrying over a child that wasn't even born. A child that was barely the size of a peanut if even that.

"I'm sure she's fine." He said, hoping it would be true.

"Me too." Tex said, hearing from the sound of his voice that he wasn't sure if he did believe what he was saying.

"Thank you." He gave Tex a nod and left the helo bay. He needed to find Kara.

He tracked her down when she was leaving their cabin. Hugging her before she had a chance to say anything. "I'm sorry." He whispered to her ear. "For what?" She asked. "For not having hope." He said as he then looked at her. "I've been too negative and I'm really scared of what will happen to us." He held his hand on her cheek and saw that she smiled at him a little. Feeling a little puzzled by why would she smile. "I'm scared too." She admitted. "You're not alone." She added and kissed him. And as they were kissing they could here some interesting sounds coming from the cabin next door.

Chuckling to each other. "You think the Captain knows?" She whispered to him smiling.

"I think the entire ship knows." He chuckled.

"I'm sure I can make you scream too." He smiled that teasing smile that he knew she loved and raised his eyebrows a bit.

"Danny!" She exclaimed and he could see she was blushing. "Not now. But you can try later." She kissed him quickly as she left him standing alone in the corridor.

He did feel a little better that she felt the same as him. That she was equally scared of the future as he was.

* * *

Thank you so much for the reviews! :)


	20. Chapter 20 - Morse code

20\. ... .-.. .- - - . .-. -.- -

x

She was sitting on the bridge in the XO's chair. They were heading towards the Bahamas and the mystery island. Still a little while before they would reach their destination. Not sure what was waiting for them there. Her mind went to Danny and how he had told her that he was scared. Just because she was trying to keep hope alive, didn't mean she wasn't terrified of the future. How would it be to raise a child in this world? What if there never will be a vaccine? How would they care for the baby, at the moment they didn't have any.. She could go on the entire day, thinking about what if's and all the possible outcomes, but in the end, it wasn't worth it. She thought to focus on the mission at hand, a day at a time. That was her strategy.

 _Thinking back to their wedding day. They were sitting in the mess of the Nathan James. It did look a little more festive this time around. Frankie was holding a toast "I've known Danny a long time, so I know all the skeletons in his closet." Glancing at Danny as he chuckled a little at his friend's comment. "All I have to say is that when he locked his eyes on Kara, he never saw the Cupid's arrow that went straight to his heart. The both of you are lucky, to have each other in this world, right now. To the bride and groom."_

 _She then saw Ravit get up to hold her speech and she was smiling the entire time as she listened to Ravit. "I've only just met Kara, but after the short time I have known her, I can tell that she is a good friend and she is a good listener when something is troubling you. I'm glad to have her as my friend and I can only hope that one day I will feel the kind of love that she has with Danny." She noticed the subtle look she gave towards Burk after her speech._

 _They had left from their reception towards the cabins on the James and when Danny said she could open her eyes, she saw the cabin decorated with rose petals and there was some chain lights that worked with batteries to give a little lightning. "It's not exactly a four star hotel, but.." He said as he was holding his arms on her waist. "I don't need a four star hotel, I don't need a piece paper that states your mine.. I only want you." She turned around and kissed him. Feeling him smile against her lips. "No regrets?" He met her gaze and she hadn't even second guessed if her decision to ask him to marry her was too hasty. In her heart she knew it was the only thing in her life that made sense and one thing she knew, life was too short to waste. Especially now. "I love you Danny. So no, no regrets." She reassured him_.

As she was faintly smiling at the memory, she was alerted by the ships's navigator. They were approaching a ship.

* * *

"Sir, we need you on the bridge." She was standing in the doorway to the wardroom as Chandler was sitting by the table with Lucas while the little boy was drawing something on a piece of paper.

"Is it okay if I'll be gone for a moment?" Chandler looked softly at the boy and Lucas nodded as he focused back to the drawing.

"What's our sitrep?" Chandler was walking behind her to the bridge.

"We have eyes on a ship, sir. But it isn't Hayward." She informed the Captain and as they reached the bridge the Captain had a look with the binoculars.

"It's Russian!" Chandler raised his voice and met her gaze.

She was almost making the statement for General Quarters when Chandler said "Wait!"

Giving the Captain a speculative look, she saw he was looking at the ship again with his binoculars. And then she saw something faintly herself. Lights blinking. Blinking towards them.

"It's Morse code." Chandler gave a look to her way. The Russians were contacting them?

"It's his birthday." Chandler made the revelation as he translated the message. Who's birthday? She didn't really understand what was going on.

"It's Slattery." Chandler then said looking as puzzled as the rest of them.

How had Commander Slattery come in the possession of a Russian ship? Or was it the opposite? Was he a prisoner on the Russian ship?

They were watching Chandler take off towards the ship with a RHIB. He insisted on going alone, because of the uncertainty of the situation on board the vessel. If they were hostiles, they hadn't targeted them, at least not yet.


	21. Chapter 21 - Friendly fire

21\. Friendly fire

x

As he set his foot on the deck of the older Kirov-class ship, he was amused of the sight in front of him. Slattery standing in his usual pose, smoking a cigar and looking at him a grin on his face as he was standing there fully suited up in a hazmat suit. Since he didn't know what to expect when he got to the ship, he thought it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Good to you see Tom. Took you a while." Slattery said. "And lose the suit. It's hot in here."

"Seems like we have things to discuss." Tom took of his mask and glanced around. All the crew members seemed to be their own and there were some civilians on the deck too. Slattery nodded to him and he gave the order to give a signal back to the James.

"So what happened?" He asked as they were standing on deck. Dr. Scott had made an appearance also.

"We had a mole. Quincy had been in contact with the Russians. I found out about it when we got back to Norfolk. Overheard a conversation he was having, not that I understood much of it." Rachel told him.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why didn't she tell them? She was already on thin ice as it was, because she had lied to them about her real mission in the Arctic. "And you didn't tell us because?" He eyed the woman, wondering why she took the risk.

"My immediate reaction was to tell about my discovery, but I needed him. I needed him to do his part of the work." Rachel revealed. And he could see it on her face, she wasn't proud of her actions.

"After I discovered Frankie's immunity. I knew it wouldn't be long. I tried to stall the process, but as it turns out we had created a possible vaccine prototype. And I knew that if Quincy was going to betray us. This was the time." She explained and glanced at Slattery.

"That's when she came to me and told me the entire plot." Slattery stated.

"Wasn't long after our conversation, we noticed he had left us. With the samples. Luckily I hid the actual samples, so what he had was nothing." Rachel said, slightly angry at what Quincy had done and he saw the regret in her eyes. She had betrayed a trusted colleague, but he had done the same to her first. They knew that Quincy might not be alive anymore if the Russians had found out that the prototype didn't work, which they probably had, given that they came to Norfolk.

"Since we knew they would come after us, we evacuated the entire town to closest safe zones and some survivors are with us." Slattery continued.

He listened to the plan they had come up with. Wondering if it had been the best solution at the time.

"How did you get the ship then?" He asked.

"We were expecting them, but they came quicker than we had anticipated and when we saw the ship over the horizon and coming towards us.. We knew we had to stop them. This ugly piece of junk is nuclear-powered Tom!" Slattery's voice got angrier.

Nuclear-powered ship in the hands of a rogue Russian Captain. He wouldn't have liked the idea either, he thought. Giving a questionable look to Slattery, wanting to hear the rest of the story.

"So as they came to the base, we took over the ship. Shot a missile from Hayward destroying the base and some of their crew. We had to, or else we wouldn't have succeeded." Slattery said a touch a sadness in his voice.

Then Tom realized that he gave the order to shot a missile towards their own base, where he knew his son most likely was. His own son had been at the hotel, luckily the hotel was located on the edge of the base. Studying the man, he did seem like his usual self, but he knew it was a coping mechanism for him. That inside of him he was hurting. Grieving the loss of his boy.

"And what about Lucas?" He said looking at Slattery and seeing that he blamed himself. Seeing the guilt on his face when he said the name of his son.

"He was lost in the evacuation process.." He heard his voice break. "Christine won't even look at me." "She blames me.. But I think she is blaming herself more, that she wasn't paying enough attention to his whereabouts. He was on the bus, but apparently he returned to find his favorite teddy." Slattery continued to tell him, but he was beginning to cry.

"We tried to look for him, but we weren't able to find him and then we saw the Russian ship coming." Rachel continued glancing towards Slattery.

"Andrea's husband was still looking for Lucas, but they got to him during the attack." Rachel added.

"And after all of it.. We had to leave. In case there were more coming. And there had been reports of hostile activity on the borders of the town. Might have been the same people that were on the base in Dahlgren." She said sighing.

"We had to drag Mike back to the ship.. We needed him." Rachel said and he saw that she understood the sacrifice Slattery had done. Leaving his own son behind, not knowing if he was alive or dead.

But as Rachel was filling him in on the details Slattery gave a puzzled look towards him "How do you know about Lucas?"

"We went back." He said.

"You did what? What if you were followed?" Slattery lashed out and he could see he was very close to taking his hands on his shirt.

"I had a hunch!" Tom yelled back not losing eye contact with the man. They were eyeing each other, just inches away.

He didn't want to tell his crew that he made the decision to go back to Norfolk based on a hunch. A feeling that he had, telling him to go back, even though he knew the base was probably evacuated. But when he found Lucas hiding in the hotel, he knew why. The feeling he had had, was gone.

"I found Lucas." He said and Slattery blinked as he retreated a few steps. "He's alive, Mike." He then added, seeing the overwhelming look on Mike's face. He probably thought he had found him lifeless and had already lost all hope that his only son might still be alive.

"Lucas?" Mike looked at him.

"He's with us." He faintly smiled to the man. Beside them Rachel was smiling too.

And without words Mike hugged him "Thank you Tom."

After a moment of silence..

"Oh and you can have this ugly piece of junk. Belonged to the guy on your book." Mike broke off trying to bring some laughter to the situation.

He chuckled at his comment. "But why here?" He asked.

"Well I wanted something more sunnier this time around." Slattery answered as he looked at the sky.

"We needed a secure and hidden location." Rachel said.

"No one knows. Not even the officials back home. If there are any left of them." Slattery stated.

"When Commander Slattery took over the ship we found something.." Rachel began telling and glanced at Slattery.


	22. Chapter 22 - New home

22\. New home

x

It was a joyous reunion later that day.

Andrea got to hold her little girl in her arms again.

Mike and Christine were reunited with their youngest child. Holding little Lucas in her arms, Christine Slattery was crying as she never thought she would have a chance to see her little boy again.

Tom hold his son and daughter as his wife embraced them.

Seeing Kara hug her mother, Debbie. He saw she was happy to see her and the joy of the moment got even higher when she was reunited with her best friend, Alisha. Never thinking that she would make it back from Europe.

Glancing at the people coming to greet them at the beach he saw Frankie, walking on his own. Looking healthy again. They hugged briefly and to his surprise he saw Nathan Smith in front of him.

"No hard feelings?" Nathan asked meeting his gaze.

"It's okay Smith. I understand why you did it." He nodded to the man. And he did understand his actions now more than ever. Knowing that if it had been him, he would have done the same. Giving a quick glance towards Kara who seemed to be in very good spirits as she was talking with Alisha and her mother.

Berchem hadn't make it though. He had been on the mission to take over the ship, but was killed in action.

Burk met also an old friend from the Nathan James, Javier Cruz was here with his sister and nephews. He must have come back to Norfolk somehow, he thought. He had been visiting his sister at the time when the virus hit.

But as it seemed that nearly everyone was in high spirits because they still had their loved ones, he could see Ravit and Wolf standing a little outside of the people on the beach. He saw the look on their faces, not quite knowing if they belonged here. They didn't have any family on the island. They didn't know if they were still alive. He sighed because he had that same feeling inside of him. His own family was missing too. But he wasn't entirely alone either, he had a family, he had Kara and their friends.

* * *

He was putting up a tent for him and Kara, wondering how long would they be on the island. How long would it take for Dr. Scott to succeed in her mission to make a vaccine.

If she would succeed..

The regulation army tent, never thought that it would be their first "home" together. But if it was enough for Kara, it would be enough for him. They weren't exactly legally married either, but it didn't matter to her and for him it was enough to know that she had given her heart to him in front of everyone, so in his mind it was official.

"You okay?" He heard her ask from behind him as he had been standing there still, holding the tent in his arms.

"Just thinking about how this will be our home.." He gave a glance towards her and continued on with the tent.

"Danny.. In an ideal world I would want a house too." He heard her say, not exactly expecting her to say that. But it did seem that she had read his mind. That this is not exactly how things should go. That they should have a house. A house were their children could grow up in, a yard to play in. Not a tent that would probably be lost if a storm hit them, although the army tents were somewhat stronger but still.

"Perhaps one day." He answered not wanting to meet her eyes because he wasn't entirely sure whether it would happen. If he was telling the truth or just saying the words they both needed to hear in the moment.

Later in the evening as he was lying in the bed they had made inside the tent. Holding her as she snuggled lying half on top of him. Nesting her head under his chin. Staring at the roof of the tent, seeing the dreamcatcher Kara had made. Wooden sticks as a frame, white thread going in the middle like a spiders web. Seashells used to decorate it. He smiled at her little creation. She had made it to make him feel like it was their home and sure enough it did feel just a little more homier now.

He thought about when he was a little boy, coming home from school. He remembered one sunny day when he walked around the corner and glanced at his childhood home. Pale yellow house with a white picket fence. He could almost feel the breeze of the wind in the air as the apple tree's they had in the garden were moving gently in the wind. He wondered if he ever got to go back home, to see his childhood home once more. If he ever got to see his family again.


	23. Chapter 23 - Paradise

23\. Paradise

x

" _Here's the plan.."_

They were gathered for a briefing in the mess of the James. Chandler was giving Slattery the lead role of laying out his plan for them, because this had after all been his idea. To find a private island in the close proximity of their home country, close enough that they had possibilities to get more supplies. Gitmo wasn't that far away and there was still some supplies there, but who knew if they were the only ones surviving at sea?

" _We'll work in 3 day shifts and then 3 days off.." "Granderson, you're in charge of organizing schedules."_

It sounded so normal, as if they were trying to build a community here, on this island. Slattery seemed to have a very detailed plan. The island had everything, thanks to some rich person who had developed it to his or hers needs. There was a reverse-osmosis facility for getting fresh water in addition to water collecting. Solar panels that were powering that facility along with a backup generator. And a waste water treatment facility. Even the toilets on the island were in working order, flushing with seawater. Someone had used millions to build a paradise and even in the end they weren't using it. She wondered what had happened to the person who owned this all? Was he or she already dead?

" _Our task at hand is to maintain the ship, in this case the Russian ship as it has a fuel source that won't be running out anytime soon.." "Commander Garnett has the lead on that.."_

The main house on the island had been transferred to a supply storage and the kitchen was in heavy use as Bacon was using it to feed all the people on the island, working together with Darien Chandler and Christine Slattery. Everyone seemed to have their role, even her own mother was working with Master Chief with holding the morale and being a negotiator between the Navy and the civilians. She was rather surprised to learn that her mother had taken on this kind of responsibility, not sure if she could withstand the pressure of it. But it seemed like she was made for it.

" _Lieutenants Burk and Green. Senior Chief Taylor. You are in charge of maintaining the training amongst the enlisted."_

" _Lieutenant Bivas and Master-at-Arms Cruz. You are in charge of the training of the civilians. I think they all should know how to defend themselves when it comes to it..."_

" _We also need a schedule for guard duty on the Russian ship." "Lieutenants Benz and Smith, you take lead on that."_

What Commander Slattery had discovered on the Russian ship was rather puzzling. There was presumably a scientist inside of a isolation tent. Apparently he seemed to be infectious with the very virus they were trying to cure. Not sure what his role in all of it was, because he wasn't talking all that much, even though his infatuation towards Dr. Scott was obvious. And they had also found Dr. Tophet's wife and daughter on the ship, realizing what his motive had been in betraying them.

" _Commander Green.."_

And her own duty was to train everyone who had the skills to work on the CIC, but the challenging part was that she needed to train them to handle the Russian ship which was a little more different than the James. Not only language wise. Captain Chandler along with a survivor who spoke Russian, had been assigned to translating duty and marking the entire ship so that they could actually manage to run it. She still couldn't believe how Slattery had managed to maneuver the ship to the Bahamas in the first place. Although the controls were pretty much the same.

Startled from her thoughts, she felt Danny's hand grazing her forearm briefly to get her attention. "Kara?"

"Commander Green, am I boring you?" She heard Slattery's amused voice. Feeling the sudden blush on her cheeks. She wasn't sure what the topic at hand had been, too consumed by her own thoughts.

"No, sir." She replied and moved to sit more upright in her chair and she could hear Danny and the others chuckle a bit.

"Last but not least. Everyone is getting a physical evaluation. We need to be prepared for everything. We don't know how long we will be here. How long it will take for Dr. Scott to create a vaccine." Slattery informed them.

She glanced quickly towards Danny and he met her gaze. They still hadn't told anyone about her pregnancy. She wasn't that far along yet and who knew what would happen.

"Myself and Captain Chandler will be in charge of a evacuation plan, hoping it won't come to that and also locating possible places to go and find supplies for the manufacturing process of the cure."

Sounded like their commanding officers had a pretty strong faith in Dr. Scott's capabilities. That one day she would succeed. But how long would that take? And even if she would create a vaccine, they didn't have endless amount of supplies to manufacture the vaccine. Would they even have enough for the ones on the island? And how to decide who got a vaccine and who didn't?

* * *

She was glad that it was Dr. Scott who was giving her the physical evaluation. She didn't want to ask for her specifically because it would only raise questions and rumors and she didn't want her condition to be common knowledge, not yet at least. It did seem that everything was fine with her, a little high blood pressure measurement, but she did feel herself a little tense in the moment. But before she could speak about her secret to Rachel..

"As part of Commander Slattery's plan.. I need to discuss birth control with you." Rachel said.

Had Slattery thought of it all? She thought. Apparently in their preparations to evacuate they had also secured supposedly a sufficient amount of birth control medication. After all it would be difficult if there was a sudden outcome of pregnancies and not to mention they were short staffed on people with medical experience. Even though back in the day women had survived through a natural childbirth but she did feel a sudden panic go over her, would she survive through it?

She met Rachel's eyes and said "I think it's too late for that." Seeing that Rachel was a little surprised by her revelation, but it did seem she wasn't going to lecture her about it.

"How far along?" Rachel asked, writing something on her notes.

"Not sure, perhaps six weeks?" She answered.

After Rachel had examined her, she had come to the conclusion that she was roughly around 6 weeks and her due date would be around July 11th. They agreed they would try the older ultrasound machine on the James on a later point.


	24. Chapter 24 - New Year

24\. New Year

x

It was the second loudest night of the year. Usually around this time of the year the night sky would be filled with a spectacular light show accompanied by lots of colors and loud noise. But tonight the sky was clear, the blinking stars on the night sky were the only light show for the evening. And there was no noise, no bangs, no crackling, no sputtering to be heard. They would be welcoming the new year without a big show this time around. She still remembered last years show.

 _They had been lucky to come home from a deployment just before Christmas and for New Year's Eve she had been with Alisha, Sarah, and Burk by the piers watching the fireworks. She could remember the laughter and the jokes they had made. The feeling of not having a care in the world. Enjoying the night as they drank beer and ate take away pizza. She had been a little tipsy by midnight and she could faintly remember Burk trying to kiss her just because it was a New Year's tradition, but she wasn't sure how his attempt had ended up. Chuckling to the memory, she wondered if things would ever go back to normal?_

She glanced around the beach on the island they were at. People were enjoying the company of their family and friends. There was different types of sounds in the air, there was laughter, chatter, some were even singing and playing an instrument. Kids were playing with each other. Only crackling sound was coming from the bonfires. This was a sound of a different New Year, perhaps it was even better than the old celebration, she thought. Despite of their setbacks with making the vaccine, people seemed to still have hope for the future.

She leaned backwards and felt the warm body of Danny. He was holding his arms around her as they sat on the beach. Closing her eyes for a moment, she could feel the tingling on her body where he was holding her. The thrill going through her as she could feel the warmth of him continue on to her body. As she opened her eyes she could hear the countdown..

"10.. 9.. 8.. 7.. 6.. 5.. 4.. 3.."

She turned her head towards to meet Danny's gaze and they shared a kiss when the countdown was over.

"2.. 1.." "Happy New Year!" Was the joyous sound of people shouting in unison.

"Happy New Year." She heard Danny whisper to her. Thinking one year back she never thought she would be married. Never thought she would be pregnant. This year she would become a mother. She would have her own child. The thought was scary, would she know how to care for the baby? And more importantly how would it be to have a child in the situation they were in?

Smiling at Danny she then got up and hold her hand out to him. "Come on." She said. She was getting tired and there was only one thing she wanted at the moment and it was him. She guided him through the celebrating people on the beach to their little tent that they had on the island.

As he had closed the entry to the tent and turned to look at her, she had taken off her shirt wearing only a bra. Seeing him smile at her and gaze her body, she was around 12 weeks now, but the pregnancy wasn't showing on her fit body. He closed the gap between them and embraced her as he was gently kissing her neck. "You're quiet tonight." She heard him whisper as he continued on to trace kisses on the curve of her shoulder. "Mhm.. I just wanna feel you." She whispered back as she then met his gaze and kissed him passionately. She had a need to feel his touch at the moment, to be reminded that life might not be over, to feel something awaken inside of her.


	25. Chapter 25 - Doubt

25\. Doubt

x

She could see it was slowly eating at her. Feeling the heavy weight of expectation on her shoulders. That one day she will succeed, one day she will create a vaccine. She had tried her vaccine prototype on the monkeys they had gotten for her and it did seem the vaccine was working. The few monkeys had survived.

In her confidence she had then tested the vaccine prototype on one volunteer, but it hadn't worked. After the setback, she had been working almost around the clock, puzzled by why wasn't the vaccine working. And to confuse her even more, she has been trying to study the scientist on the ship as it seems he's a carrier for the virus, but he had stopped cooperating when Rachel's first trial had failed. Which left Rachel puzzled about who the man really was?

Not to mention the fear going through the survivors with them, both civilian and the enlisted. Commanders Slattery and Chandler had their hands full on trying to convince the people that they should keep on hoping and that they are safe were they are now. At least for the time being. There were some who wished to leave them. But after hearing Master Chief's encouraging words about their task at hand, they had been reminded that they shouldn't lose faith so easily. It had calmed everyone a little bit, but she saw that Dr. Scott felt the pressure on her now more than ever. A slight mistake in her research, if she wasn't 100% sure, would she have the courage to try?

But Kara became even more concerned about her, when she was having her monthly control for her pregnancy and saw that Rachel wasn't her usual self.

She had taken her blood pressure and was preparing the ultrasound machine, again. "..So next is the ultrasound." Rachel had said.

"But we've already done it." She said looking at her in wonderment.

"Oh.. I suppose we did." Rachel tried a faint smile as if to cover up her mistake.

So after she was done with her appointment she had to talk to Chandler and asked Doc Rios to accompany her.

"Sir. I have some concerns over Dr. Scott." She had stated and glanced towards Doc Rios, she had already informed him briefly about her revelation.

"We believe she might be close to a burnout." Rios informed the Captain.

"You're sure?" Chandler glanced at the both of them.

"She is forgetful and works around the clock, and I don't think she sleeps much." She said.

"Rarely see her eat properly and there might be more, but we would have to talk with her." Rios said crossing his arms on his chest.

"She will probably deny it all." Chandler stated. She nodded, knowing all too well that Rachel would never admit that it was all too much for her. She could almost imagine the irritation it would cause in her.

"But we need her." Chandler said and glanced the both of them.

They came up with a plan that wasn't their best one. Being highly unethical but it was the only way. And Captain Chandler was the one who would have to do it.

* * *

" _What happened?" She heard her voice inside of her head. Everything was white in her mind._

" _..of course.."_

" _Unidentified gene.."_

" _..human gene.."_

" _Why didn't I see that?"_

" _..recognized the human gene.."_

" _Auto-immune reaction.."_

" _..it all made sense to her now.."_

" _Patient zero.."_

" _..added the gene.."_

" _Weaponized the virus.."_

" _..it's been right in front of me.."_

" _He knew.."_

She opened her eyes looking around her. She was in the sickbay, lying on a bed. She lifted her arms and saw that she was hooked to an IV-bag. As she sat up on the bed she felt a banging headache in her head and she thought it was best to lie back down. " _What happened?"_

Her memories of the last few days were blurry. She remembered faintly Captain Chandler paying her a visit and offering her a cup of coffee.


	26. Chapter 26 - Be my Valentine (part 1)

26\. Be my Valentine (part 1)

x

"She'll love it." He said to Burk as they were walking towards the tents they had been living in for the past months. "I hope so." He heard the nervousness in his voice. He glanced at him and saw he was feeling nervous. He felt somewhat lucky that Kara had spared him from the jitters Burk was obviously going through right now.

"She loves you, you love her." He tried to reassure him and patted him briefly at the back of his shoulder. Seeing that Burk nodded to his comment, he continued on to his and Kara's tent. He entered the tent and saw her sitting on the sleeping space as she was sewing. Chuckling a little to see her so domestic. What was she doing?

"Do I want to know?" He looked at her seeing that she was doing something with her uniform.

"I'm adding some extra clothing to the sides. The uniform isn't big enough." He heard her explain and he noticed she felt uncomfortable of talking about the subject. Her growing belly was no secret anymore. "Where did you get the extra fabric then?" He looked at the uniform and noticed that she had most definitely clipped her pants which now made the uniform reach her knees. No way Slattery or Chandler would allow her to go around in that. Despite it being February, the temperature was still on the warmer side.

"It's hot wearing the overall in this heat, plus I'm suddenly feeling very warm." She met his eyes.

He sat beside her on their bed and kissed her as he felt she was probably becoming irritated because of his questions. _It's the hormones_ , he thought. She had been a little on edge lately and the slightest small error in his actions would turn her over to red. Just like the other day when he had undressed and left his clothes on the floor, because he had been too tired to clean after him and because the clothes needed washing. So the next morning when she got up and saw the mess on the floor, she had woke him up and started to boss him around before he even had had his cup of coffee, that tasted just faintly the real thing.

"Leave that and follow me." He smiled at her. Feeling happy that he was going to show her something that she would hopefully be happy about. Tomorrow was Valentine's Day and he wanted to surprise her.

As he had guided her to one of the supply rooms located on the main house, they were welcomed by Maria. Javier's sister who had been appointed to ration and keep order at the place. It was rather amazing that Commander Slattery had really thought about everything, although he had a suspicion that ideas for Slattery's preparedness had really come from his wife, Christine.

So in the room they were in, they had clothes for both children and adults. Some items necessary to every day to day routines. He gave a look to Maria and she knew what they were after. Kara seemed to look rather puzzled because she obviously didn't know about the place.

"Here." Maria gave Kara a few shirts and pants that seemed to be maternity clothes.

"This way you don't have to clip your uniform." He smiled at her and he saw she was a little overwhelmed by all of it.

"And when it comes to that, they have also clothes for the baby." He said and looked at her as she began smiling even more and the tears were coming down.

"It's all normal." Maria reassured her.

"I'm not usually like this." She chuckled and wiped her eyes a bit.

"Thank you." She said to him as they were walking back to their tent.

"I think you should thank Slattery for all of it." He smiled.

"I know I've been a little difficult lately.." She stopped and gave a kiss on his cheek.

"Well I have gotten to know the things that might trigger you so.." He chuckled. He had become an expert on reading her now. Especially since she sometimes didn't tell him what was it that was wrong.

"Not easy being you." She laughed and he couldn't honestly remember the last time he really had heard her laughter. There had been too much going on lately. Dr. Scott suffering from exhaustion. There was no breakthroughs in creating a vaccine and everyone was just trying to keep their spirits up.


	27. Chapter 27 - Be my Valentine (part 2)

28\. Be my Valentine (part 2)

x

She was asleep in their tent as she heard him get up. Even though she hoped to sleep just a few minutes more, she was used to hearing his usual morning routine. But this time, she wasn't hearing him getting dressed. And before she could open her eyes and turn to see what he was doing she heard his soft voice.

"Even if the sun refused to shine, even if romance ran out of rhyme.." "You would still have my heart, until the end of time." "You're all I need, my love, my valentine."

She turned to see him as she was hearing him sing with his soft voice. Smiling at him. There he was down on one knee and singing to her.

"I've dreamed of this a thousand times before, but in my dreams I couldn't love you more."

She was looking at him, his singing going straight to her heart. She hadn't felt like this in a very long time. The feeling of being cherished, loved by someone. She had missed it.

"I will give you my heart, until the end of time." "You're all I need, my love. Will you be mine forever?"

She heard his words and she saw he was holding a flower with a golden ring tied to it. Noticing slightly the shaking of his hand in which he held the flower. Would he ever manage to relax around her, she wondered. Glancing at him as he was waiting for her answer.

She placed her hand around his hand in which the flower was and pulled him near her as she placed a soft kiss on his lips. She felt his body all tense, smiling at the reaction as she kissed him.

"Yes." She barely managed to say, feeling her morning voice a little husky. Meeting his gaze when he seemed to be rather surprised of her answer. Wasn't it what he had expected or had he really been that nervous? That she might turn him down?

 _It was time to let go of her past, she had thought just a few days before. She had been sitting on the beach with Kara, holding her hand on her belly. Feeling as the baby was making these soft little kicks or more like bumps. She had felt sadness and joy at the same time. Joy that her friend was experiencing the movements of her baby. Sadness because she barely remembered how it had felt. Kara had seen the pain and longing in her eyes and she had confided in her about her past._

 _It wasn't her little sister that had been pregnant. She was young when she got married, all hopeful for the future, happy. They had found out that they were expecting. But her husband was in the military and he was shot in the line of duty. Leaving her alone. And a month later she found out that the baby inside of her wasn't anymore. Feeling completely crushed that the life she had wanted, was taken away from her. In her sorrow, in her anger, she had joined the Israeli Defence Forces shortly after._

 _She had built a wall around her heart, she felt she couldn't take anymore hurt and the best was not to let anyone near her heart ever again. Still feeling the pain of losing her child, it has left a hole in her, which can never be replaced, but as she now has learned, the pain isn't as sharp anymore. And when she first met Carlton in Norfolk, seeing his smile and the looks he gave her. She felt something, despite the wall around her. She felt that she just might fall in love again. And when he hit on her at the cabin with that ridiculous line, she felt the sting of fondness coming over her. Feeling the sparkling sensation of something waking deep inside of her heart. Never thinking she would feel like that again. So she slowly let the wall around her crumble down, when she realized he was deeply into her. Letting herself to feel love again, as she fell in love with him. No matter how long they had together in the world, she wanted to be his._

Glancing at him as he took the ring tied to the flower and placed it on her finger. It was a golden ring with three little stones in the middle. Probably diamonds, but to her it didn't matter. "I thought you'd like something simple." He said with a smile. "Not that I think you are simple.." He then stuttered out, she heard he had the need to explain. She pulled him back to bed on top of her and kissed him. "I love it." She managed to say between kisses and she felt that he was relaxing finally. It was so sweet that after everything, she was still making him this jumpy, she thought.


	28. Chapter 28 - Progress

28\. Progress

x

Chandler entered to Dr. Scott's working area on board the Russian ship. She had left the sickbay yesterday and he thought he should apologize for their actions.

"Doc Rios already explained to me." He heard her stiff voice as he walked towards her. She was gazing at the computer screen in front of her.

"I know. But I wanted to tell you I'm sorry. We crossed the line." He admitted and looked at Rachel. Noticing that her gaze slightly wavered from the screen.

"Quite frankly, I don't know if I should slap or kiss you." Rachel met his eyes for a moment. He sensed she was most likely hurt.

"Well I hope the latter.." He chuckled and got a strange look out of her, and then he realized what he had said. He was after all happily married.

After a moment of silence she continued "But I can understand why you did what you did. And I can't completely deny that it wasn't what I needed."

He nodded, not sure how to proceed forward. He hadn't expected to "win" her over this quickly.

"You might wanna sit down." Rachel then looked at him with a serious expression on her face.

After she had filled him in on the fact that the man Commander Slattery had found on the Russian ship was most likely patient zero. Since he refused to cooperate with Rachel and didn't allow her to take any samples, it was the logical conclusion she had made. He had weaponized the virus by adding the human gene thus making the virus deadly and allowing it to spread all over the world. Killing millions of people in it's wake.

But it wasn't all she had to tell him. She might have found a way to create a vaccine. He felt his heart stop at the thought of it. But he also knew that after the first trial, Rachel had been devastated as she didn't know what had gone wrong. But now she claimed she had the answer. It was the human gene that she finally had identified that had caused an auto-immune reaction. She just had to find a way to hide the human gene. Just find a way.. He thought. So she wasn't close to a breakthrough..

"Are you sure?" He asked. Studying the woman as she seemed to be a little insecure.

"I believe so. If I use the Arctic strain as a decoy.. I just need to find the right composition." She explained and then he realized why she was so troubled by her discovery. She can't test the vaccine on monkeys, she needs a new volunteer, god knows how many before she creates the right kind of mixture.

He shook his head. Her last trial didn't give a positive outcome, she hasn't been making any progress for a vaccine and adding to the mix her exhaustion which wasn't public knowledge, but has somehow spread amongst both the civilian survivors and the people serving in the Navy. He and Slattery were feeling the pressure of trying to lead a group of people that were afraid, losing their hope for a better future and now he would have to find new volunteers.

* * *

He was with Darien in the wardroom later the day and confided in her about the discovery. He knew he should talk with Slattery about the next step in the plan, but he felt he needed someone close to him to open his eyes.

"I should volunteer." Tom said looking at Darien who sat beside him holding his hand on the table in front of them. He saw the terrified look on Darien's face when he said it out loud. He had thought about it, just because he was in charge of the mission, protecting Dr. Scott and her research, didn't mean that he couldn't volunteer.

"No." He heard Darien's reluctant voice as she met his gaze. He felt her hand tighten around his as she looked at him.

"I will." She then said and his jaw dropped. That wasn't going to happen, he thought. But before he could start to argue her on the matter she sensed he was upset about it. He felt his heart aching in his chest to think that she might not make it through. It was a thought too overwhelming to even process.

"You are needed Tom."

"So are you!" He raised his voice. Not willing to hear her argument.

"Sam and Ashley need you! I need you!" He got up from his chair and walked a few steps away from her. Hearing that she got up too. He was rubbing his face with his hands when he felt her hand on his shoulder.

"Tom. I've lived a life filled with love and happiness. A good life. And if this is when I die.. I'll be content, because if it means that there is a chance for our kids to grow up. I'll take that chance." She said with a calm voice, her voice didn't even waver once. He turned to face her and hold her hands in his. He met her eyes and felt the tears coming in his. He knew she had made her mind about it already. There was nothing he could say, and as he thought about it, what right had he to say that she couldn't volunteer and someone's else's wife or husband, brother or sister, colleague or friend had to be the guinea pig? Although it was voluntarily.

"I don't know what I'll do without you." He said, hearing his voice shake a bit.

"You'll figure it out." She placed a hand on his cheek and he felt her warm touch on his skin.

"Darien.." He started to say as she hugged him, he embraced her tightly, not wanting to let go.

* * *

He saw the unpleasantness of the situation in Rachel's demeanor. She wasn't happy about the idea either. Because it meant that his wife's life was in her hands. She was literally possibly killing his wife with one of the deadliest viruses ever known. As it had turned out, Tex had volunteered as well which Rachel had accepted. Allowing her to use two different doses, hoping that one of them would work.

"You doing okay?" Slattery glanced at him as he stood outside the isolation tent.

"My wife might die, what do you think?" He stared the tent in front of him. Following what was going on. Darien and Tex had received both the virus and the vaccine prototype and seemed to be talking, even laughing on their cots.

"I know if Christine was in there.." Slattery began to say, but seemed to sense that there was no comforting words for a situation like this. He knew that Mike understood the emotions going through him at the time. He felt his stomach sick of worry, unsettling feeling of not knowing what was going to happen. His heart beating through his chest as he thought about her.

 _Thinking back to their wedding day as he had held her in his arms. Meeting her gaze and looking at the joyous smile she had had. He had felt happy, because he had just married the woman he loved more than anything. They would be starting a future together. Never did he guess that the future would turn out to be like this._

* * *

For those who are still following the story, thank you for reading! :)


	29. Chapter 29 - Comfort in simple ways

29\. Comfort in simple ways

x

* * *

Danny

* * *

" _Danny!" Tex met his eyes. "Find her. If I die.. You need to find her. Find Kat." Tex pleaded to him and handed him a letter. As he took the letter from him, he nodded to the man. He made a promise to find his daughter. He hardly knew the man so well, but somehow Tex was trusting him to find his little girl. Feeling a touch of sadness that he hadn't spent that much time with him, to get to know him for real. To know something about the man, he just had made a promise to. To have something to tell his daughter about him._

He was sitting on the beach and he heard footsteps behind him. "You want some company?" Frankie sat down beside him and Halsey came to lie between them. He noticed Burk and Wolf sat down on his other side followed by Cruz.

"He asked me to find his daughter. I promised him I would." He said looking at the ocean, seeing the Russian ship along with the Nathan James.

"We'll help you." Burk said as he glanced at the guys on his left side, they all nodded in unison.

"We'll find her." Frankie said reassuringly. He opened his mouth, but didn't have any words to say. How would he find her, even if he knew exactly where she had been during the outbreak, it didn't mean she would still be there. But he had made a promise to Tex. And he wouldn't break his promise. He hoped to god that Dr. Scott would succeed. That they didn't need more volunteers. He saw the look on the Captain's face, he could only imagine what he was going through right now. He felt relief that Kara was pregnant and couldn't take part in the trial.

"If I could I would have volunteered." Frankie said and as he glanced at his friend, he saw the guilt on his face. The feeling of being untouchable by fate, at least to the deadly virus. Other things can still get to you, but not the virus that most likely has killed the loved ones of everyone's closest family.

"We tried to volunteer, but Tex beat us to it." Cruz stated.

"Perhaps we'll get our turn on the next round." Wolf said stating the obvious. What if Rachel didn't succeed this time around. How many times would she try?

After a moment of silence he had to try and comfort Frankie "You were the key to create the vaccine prototype."

"I might be the key, but knowing that so many people have lost their loved ones.. Why am I different?" Frankie asked.

"Perhaps you're different. Perhaps you're better than the rest of us or perhaps you just are lucky. Doesn't matter why you're different, all that matters is that you're still alive and with us." Burk met Frankie's eyes.

"You might have saved the world. You should be happy about it." Cruz added.

"Saved the world, but there might not be much to save." He hardly heard Frankie's words. The meaning of it, how many would there be to save when Rachel would finally have the vaccine.

Sensing that Frankie felt uncomfortable in the spotlight of being portrayed as a hero, perhaps he needed some more time to process it all, so he turned the topic at hand towards Burk. "I hear congratulations are in order." He looked at Burk and saw that he might just be blushing a bit when he realized what he meant.

"Yeah, we heard. Congratulations." Wolf patted Burk on the shoulder.

"You locked a beauty. Congrats." Cruz added.

"Thank you." Burk smiled a bit.

"We should organize a singles evening." Frankie said joking a bit. Trust it to Frankie to say something like that when the world was possible ending. He heard that his comment got some laughs in their group.

"Yeah, it does get lonely sometimes." Wolf brought the painful notion to the air. While he had Kara, Burk had Ravit, Cruz, Wolf and Frankie didn't have anyone close to them. No one to find comfort in, no one to hold when the reality got too overwhelming, no one to feel in their arms, no one to reveal their deepest thoughts to, their fears and hopes. He felt even more sadder at the thought of his friends being alone, even though they had developed into a tight group, it wasn't the same talking to a friend than it would be to someone you love.

And Frankie might be lucky because he was immune, but he felt lucky that he had Kara as he was sure that Burk felt the same way about Ravit. Was the guilt equally devastating for him and Burk than it was for Frankie? But no matter how he twisted his thoughts in his head. His and Burk's guilt of having some touch of happiness in their current situation couldn't compare to Frankie's.

* * *

Kara

* * *

Kara was sitting by a table at the main house with Alisha, Ravit and Maria. They were trying to think of something else than the trial that was ongoing. But the mood amongst the group was pretty heavy, but Alisha tried to lighten things up "Do we get to plan a wedding?"

Glancing at Ravit she saw her smile. That very smile she once had felt on her face too. The afterglow of being engaged and when you have made a promise to someone. A promise that you will give yourself to that someone.

" _Why are you smiling like that?" She heard Ravit ask her when they met at the base. "I asked Danny to marry me." She said smiling even a bigger smile when she heard her own words. She had asked the man she loved to marry her. Never thought it would be her that would ask the question, but at the time it had felt the right thing to do. "You did what?" Ravit asked looking pretty astonished after her revelation. She nodded back at her confirming that she hadn't misheard her. "Are you in love?" Ravit had then asked seriously. "We've only known for a short period of time, but that was all that was needed for me to fall for him. And the short time we might have left, I don't wanna waste it." She explained and Ravit seemed to understand her as she nodded and gave her a hug._

"We haven't talked about it." Ravit gave as an answer. She noticed the slight hesitation in her words. Might not be a good time right now because who knew how the trial would end up.

"I think it would be nice to have something else to think about." Maria stated.

"Not to worry about the world ending, our lives.." Alisha continued but wasn't able to finish her sentence. Glancing at her, she knew she was thinking about Sarah.

And here she was, happily married, in love and having a baby. Sighing a bit at the thought that she felt glad of all the things she just listed. She was glad that Alisha had pushed her to go on the road trip with Danny, she was glad she had had the courage to make the move on him, she was glad that she had asked him, she was glad that she got to feel this amazing feeling inside of her every time her baby made the slightest move or gave her a kick. First it was just a light stroke against her belly, then it came a little stronger, like a small bump, this time more precise, deliberate little bump. As she studied her belly she could spot the small waves on her skin when the baby was kicking and as she placed her hand to feel the small bumps against her hand, it was so overwhelming. She had even startled Danny the other day.

 _She had been lying awake on their bed in the tent as she was feeling her baby move. She felt the tears coming down on her face, because she was so happy. That she got to feel these little movements. "What's the matter?" She had heard Danny ask as she probably had woken him up. "Nothing, feel this." She had guided his hand on her belly and she studied his face and wondered when he would feel the little bump. Suddenly noticing him smile and seeing that he was awed by what he had just felt. He glanced at her and chuckled a bit. She saw he was feeling the same as she was. "It's amazing." He got around to say and reached to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I know." She agreed._

"Do you think Dr. Scott has the means to create a vaccine?" Maria brought up the subject they were trying to bury.

"Honestly, she probably has. But when she'll discover the vaccine is something we don't know." She said. She was hopeful. Somehow as she felt her baby growing inside of her, she had found this new hope for the future. That one day Rachel would succeed in her mission that she started all those months ago. But she couldn't deny that the future wasn't still scary. But she had Danny to share her fears with, to comfort her when the thoughts came too much.

They decided to walk to the beach were they had seen the guys sit earlier. And as they walked towards them they sensed that they had been puzzling over the same things. Hoping the outcome of the trial would be a positive one.

Alisha sat down beside Frankie, giving him a faint smile. Hoping it was enough to ease his worries for the moment.

Maria found a spot beside her brother. Giving him a reassuring look and placing her head against his shoulder.

Ravit placed herself between Burk and Wolf, holding hands with Burk and getting a confused look from Wolf as she had taken his hand in her other one. Wanting him to know he wasn't entirely alone.

Kara settled herself in front of Danny, feeling the immediate warmth surrounding her as he embraced her, tucked his chin in her neck. She sensed he was worried about the trial, they all were. Allowing themselves to be hopeful, but feeling the weight of it, that their hopes might be crushed.


	30. Chapter 30 - Despair

30\. Despair

x

She had seen the face Danny had held after he had been to see Tex. The feeling of being totally helpless, not having any words of comfort, not knowing what to do. She knew about his promise to Tex and she knew he was most likely carrying the heavy weight of the promise on his shoulders. It wouldn't be an easy task. But a promise is a promise.

She had decided to go and pay Rachel a visit. She could only imagine what was going through her mind right now.

She stepped inside Rachel's working space and got a quick look out of Rachel as she sat in front of her desk, looking at the papers in front her.

"Everything okay, Commander Green?" Rachel's voice was filled with worry.

"Everything's fine, and I think we are way past the titles and surnames since I was part of the plan to drug you." She thought to lighten the mood a bit. Getting a faint smile from Rachel.

"I suppose we are."

"I came to see how you are doing." She said with a more caring voice and walked to sit beside her in a chair.

"That's very thoughtful of you." Rachel sighed and she looked tired. She wondered if she had slept at all after the trial began.

"I don't know why the prototypes aren't working." Rachel said quietly. She saw that she was out of answers once again. That it seemed that the trial was going to be another failure. Just like the first one. Even though the scientist in her must know that creating a vaccine wasn't easy, you might not succeed on the first attempt, nor on the 50th attempt. But it was still painful to lose lives, even if they had volunteered for it, given themselves for the science, made the sacrifice for the greater good.

"I'm sure you'll succeed one day." She tried to say, not sure if she would believe her words.

It seemed that for some reason the virus was progressing more faster with Darien than with Tex. Rachel had given her different doses of the prototype, but the outcome wasn't looking good. Tex was showing some symptoms as well and Rachel seemed to be at loss of what to do. Kara saw that the pressure to succeed in making of the vaccine was getting to her. She only hoped Rachel would be strong enough to withstand the failures and not be pulled down this time around.

* * *

"How is she holding up?" She met with Alisha after her visit with Rachel.

"She is trying to figure things out." She thought to say, not wanting to alarm Alisha too much. Knowing all too well how quickly gossip went through the little community they had going on. There was always someone who said a word too much or someone who thought they had overheard something important.

"How about Darien and Tex?" She met her eyes and she shook her head. At the moment things didn't seem all that bright.

"But we got to keep the hope alive." She tried to reassure Alisha who seemed to be a little shocked by her revelation.

"How long are we going to continue doing this?" Alisha asked and she heard from her voice that she was upset.

"Til there is no one left of us?" Alisha continued.

She hugged her friend, feeling it was the only thing she could do at the moment. Knowing that if she went down that road in her own thoughts.. She wouldn't make it through the day.

* * *

In the evening as she was trying to fall asleep, her mind kept thinking about Alisha's words. She didn't want to give in to the thoughts, but she couldn't deny them either. It was a possibility that they might all die. That even her own baby might die in the end. That she wouldn't be able to protect him or her. She felt the hot tears running down on her cheeks as she thought about the future. The uncertainty of it. Would they be living on the island for the rest of their lives? What kind of life would that be? Never knowing what tomorrow would held for them. Being isolated from the rest of the world.. Even though chances were that there was not much left of the world anymore. And sooner or later they would run out of supplies. They were already rationing food, although getting some through natural resources was a bonus. _Another trip to Gitmo_.. She thought.

She felt Danny's warm body close in on hers as she felt his strong arms around her, one hand on her growing belly. She felt his head snuggle in the warmth of her neck. "I can't sleep either." He whispered and she sighed. He had been awake too. Thinking probably the same as she was. "I was just.." She tried to compress her thoughts to words, but she didn't exactly know how could she say everything she was thinking with one small line. "Thinking about the future, our life and how we will survive." He finished her sentence.

She turned to face him and met his eyes and his eyes weren't that dry either. Smiling a bit at the thought that they both had been there lying beside each other and worrying about the unknown, made her feel little comfort that he knew exactly how she felt.

"I love you." She whispered with a smile as she placed a soft kiss on his lips. She felt his hands touching her skin around her waist. Sensing by the small lightweight strokes made by his thumbs that he wanted something more. Feeling the rush of sparks going through her body as she knew from his touch that he wanted her. She moved to seat herself on top of him as she was kissing him more fervently. "I love you, Kara." She heard him whisper back as he rose to sit and began pulling her nightshirt upwards. She felt like she was in flames inside of her as he touched her. Placing sweet kisses on her skin. At that moment all that mattered was them, wanting the other one to know they still had each other, they were still here, they were still alive.


	31. Chapter 31 - Losses

31\. Losses

x

Tom was sitting in the Captain quarters alone on the couch looking at the letter in front of him. Looking utterly hopeless, he had lost her. What was he going to do now? How could he live on when he felt his heart like a stone in his chest, heavy and suffocating. With small stabs going through him as he thought about the moment.

 _He was sitting by her side with their kids. Holding her hand as he met her gaze and saw that she knew it wouldn't be long. Cursing in his mind that she was dying and they couldn't even comfort her in the end as they were fully suited in hazmat suits. He didn't even notice when Rachel had come beside them to administer the morphine to ease her suffering. It wouldn't be long now. And he remembered the moment when he felt her touch on his hand lighten, knowing that at that moment she was gone._

After their goodbye to Darien, Christine had taken the kids with her. He still remembered the devastated look on Sam's face when he understood that he wouldn't see his mother ever again. But Ashley tried to hold a brave face, even though she was crying too, but something in her posture was telling him she had known something. Perhaps she had noticed something change in Darien over the past months. Something that he didn't see. But most likely he hadn't had the time to observe anything. If there was someone to blame, it was himself. He should have known.

Breaking from his thoughts, he heard a soft knock on his door. He was too upset to give an answer to whoever it was that was disrupting him. Knowing perfectly well that he wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. He then glanced quickly at the person who then entered slowly opening the door. It was Rachel. He saw that she had been crying, probably feeling awful about the whole situation. Thinking it was all on her. That he was blaming her.

He nodded to her, allowing her to enter and she closed the door and came to sit on one of the chairs beside the couch.

"I am truly sorry, Tom." She said and barely made eye contact with him.

"It wasn't your fault." He managed to say, hearing his voice a little rough.

"I looked back to her preliminary physical when we got here. Everything seemed normal at the time." He heard her tell him. Understanding that she felt the need to explain to him.

"Whatever it was, it progressed very rapidly." She stated. "But some of the blood results before the trial did show cause for more tests." She admitted. He saw that she felt guilty for not doing additional testing. "But with the equipment we have at hand.." She continued on and as he raised his hand she quickly became silent. He then handed her the letter.

 _My dearest Tom,_

 _If you are reading this, then I am not here anymore. I'm sorry to have kept you in the dark about this, but if I was going to die, I wanted my death to serve a higher purpose than to die because of an illness._

 _Knowing you all too well, I imagined you would have gone to search for proper medication for me, doing everything in your power to save me, and in that you would have drifted away from your mission. I couldn't let that happen and I wouldn't have wished that outcome either. As you well know my mother died of cancer, I watched her wither away, day at a time. I didn't want that for myself._

 _If you need someone to blame, then blame me. Rachel didn't know about this, she was just giving me a quicker way out._

 _You'll get through this Tom.. You'll always find a way._

 _Tell Sam and Ashley I love them._

 _With Love,_

 _Darien_

"Her mother died of breast cancer." He said as Rachel looked at him after she had read the letter.

"I don't know what to say." He barely heard her words.

"I would like to be alone." He said as he felt the tears in his eyes. The pain inside of him was getting stronger of the thought that he will never hold her in his arms again.

He saw her get up and sensed that she gave a look down at him. Holding his gaze pointed at the wall across from him, he just wanted to be alone as he felt the waves of anger go through him, why hadn't he known?

"If you need to talk.." She said and placed her hand briefly on his shoulder and the touch was too much for him as he then lost control of his emotions. He felt her arm around his back and he saw that she sat down on the arm of the couch, he didn't want to, but he felt at the moment he needed it, so he leaned towards her and she held him. He was letting out some of the pain and discomfort he felt inside as she sat there in stillness and just held him.


	32. Chapter 32 - A few days later

32\. A few days later

x

To boost the atmosphere amongst them after the great loss of Darien, Wolf and Cruz had talked the younger children and early teens into playing football. Cruz and Wolf would be on the kids team which included also Ashley and Sam, although still seeing the loss of their mother on their faces, they had been willing to give the game a try. Mike's kids Lucas, Sophie and Laura were also participating along with Andrea's girl Lily and Maria's boys León and José.

The opposing team had quite the party as the participating adults were Danny, Ravit, Burk, Maria, Frankie, Smith, Mike, Alisha, Andrea and Will Mason. Christine was the goalkeeper which had made Mike burst out in laughter as she would hardly give their team a fighting chance. But then again.. They were playing against kids, well mostly kids. So it wasn't suppose to be all that serious. Bertrise had volunteered as a referee because she was used to playing football with her brother, so she knew some of the rules.

"I want a clean game." He heard Mike say to his daughters as they seemed to have their game face on.

 _Winner Winner Chicken Dinner 0-0 Vulture Team_

So as they were playing the first match and seemed to be losing to bunch of children, Mike had been right. Christine was no good at keeping the goal ball free. She might be a ninja in the kitchen but football wasn't her strongest area.

 _Winner Winner Chicken Dinner 2-0 Vulture Team_

 _Winner Winner Chicken Dinner 4-1 Vulture Team_

"You wanna give up?" He heard Wolf smirk at them as they were taking a break.

"The game is rigged!" Frankie yelled and he chuckled. Yeah, it was rigged all right. It was just a distraction to keep their thoughts somewhere else than in the sorrow they all were experiencing. Especially Ashley and Sam. Glancing around, there was quite the crowd circling their little arena, he noticed Kara sitting on the side and watching the game. And as he looked further he could see the figure of their Captain as he stood and observed the game from a distance. Sighing to himself as he couldn't imagine how he felt right now, after the devastating loss of his wife.

The game was back on and he was trying to maneuver his way through the kids who were trying to distract him and as he kicked the ball he felt the tackling made by Cruz and he fell on his back in front of the goal of the opposite team. Catching his breath as he looked at the blue sky where the sun was shining.

"Foul play!" He heard Mike state.

"Come on, get up". He heard his voice and saw the hand in front of him. As he met the man's gaze, he smiled. Reaching for his hand and getting up as he pulled him.

"Your getting sloppy old man." He winked at him.

"Who you calling sloppy? The score is 7-2." He heard his amused tone. Chuckling to himself, he felt happy that he had pulled through the trial. Remembering the promise he had made to Tex to find his daughter, he wouldn't break it. He would help him find his daughter, they all would. And now they also had a chance to save the world.

 _Winner Winner Chicken Dinner 8-3 Vulture Team_

The game was over and he had seen that the distraction had been a success during their game. There had been laughter from all the children, even Ashley and Sam had had a face of joy for a moment. But he was fearing that the moment was now gone.

He noticed himself missing the normal life. Coming home from a deployment and hitting his apartment. Placing the bag of dirty clothes in front of the laundry room. Taking a shower for more than 5 minutes, relishing the feel of hot water running down on his body. After the shower, the best part was that he didn't have to shave, one thing he disliked was the neat shaving routine. He looked 10 years younger without the beard.

In the evening he would go out with the guys if they were in town, to celebrate that they had made it home in one piece and not inside of a wooden box. Couple days later he would travel to Connecticut to meet up with his family, catch up with them. And if there was a lady in the picture, she would be the first stop on his list.

Thinking how would it be if he got home to Kara? Smiling at the thought of coming home and setting his bag beside the doorway as she would come and greet him. He could get used to that. And now it might not be just a thought anymore.

"I didn't know you were that bad." He felt her arms around him as he came back from his thoughts.

"I'm not." He smiled and turned to look at her, holding her close to him.

"You lost the game to bunch of kids." She chuckled.

"They had a Wolf, and Cruz was there too. And Tex." He tried to reason with a tone of lightness in his voice.

He then leaned his forehead against hers as he was staring at her eyes "I was just trying to imagine how would it be like to come home to you after a deployment.."

"I imagine it would feel like coming home, a warm place where you are loved, wanted and waited." She smiled softly.

"I love you." He kissed her forehead.


	33. Chapter 33 - What now?

33\. What now?

x

"We have a vaccine and a cure for the Red Flu." Rachel said with a happy tone in her voice. Kara wasn't sure whether she had ever seen the woman smile, but today was the day. She saw the relief on her face. She had succeeded in her task, finally. Tex had made it through although it had been a close call.

"So what happens now?" Burk gave a look around the table.

"I'm trying to produce as many doses as it's possible, but we do not have endless amount of supplies." Rachel told them.

"So we need to figure out a plan for mass production of the cure." She heard Danny say from beside her.

"The Russian ship holds the laboratory that was on the base in Norfolk. But we do not have the supplies to run it." Slattery continued.

"Are we leaving the island, sir?" She asked and looked at Slattery as he glanced quickly at Chandler who was sitting quietly at the end of the table. He hasn't been himself after Darien's death. She was at loss of words to describe how the Captain must be feeling right now. The thought of losing Danny.. She already thought she had lost him once, but losing him now, she couldn't even bear the thought. She glanced towards him and placed her hand on his as his hand was resting on the arm of the chair. She saw he was little puzzled by her action but didn't resist.

"No. We are not." Chandler finally spoke.

"Slattery and I made the conclusion that if Dr. Scott was to discover a vaccine, our next stop would be New Orleans. We need to distribute the cure, start spreading the doses around the world so that the mass production of it can begin." He continued.

"But we do not know what the situation on land is." Slattery sighed.

"We don't know if there are more Russians out there, there has been no communication attempts to the ship, so the obvious conclusion to make is that there might not be any threats." Chandler stood up and walked around the table slowly, glancing at everyone.

"But we also need to take in count the people that were after Green's group." Slattery continued.

She gave another look towards Danny and Frankie who was sitting beside him. She saw that they still felt the fear of whoever it was that had been after them.

"Why New Orleans?" Ravit asked the obvious question on their minds.

"After Katrina the officials made preparations for the worst, so it's the place to go." Slattery said.

"We need to make sure New Orleans is safe. I suggest we gather a team and scout the place." Chandler met Slattery's gaze and she saw they wanted to be absolutely sure that the next stop in their plan would be safe. It was now over three months since they had left Norfolk. Who knew what the situation at land was. What would be waiting for them?

"Lieutenants Green and Burk. Make preparations for the upcoming mission." Slattery gave the order. She noticed Danny and Carlton nod.

"Everyone participating in the mission will receive the vaccine." Rachel said as she saw the uneasiness on Captain Chandler's face. She wondered if it was because of the dear loss he had gone through in discovering the cure or was it that he had his doubts whether the vaccine would actually work.

After the meeting she saw Chandler and Rachel discussing about something in the corridor. The situation looked a little tense and she wondered what it was about. In the end Captain Chandler had left Rachel standing alone and she saw he had seemed rather upset.

"I'm not on the team." She heard Ravit's frustrated voice behind her.

"Apparently it was Chandler's decision." Ravit stated as Kara turned to face her.

"It's probably for the best. Burk doesn't need any distractions out there." She explained. But it wasn't usual for the Captain to make a decision like this. They were after all in on this together. It must have been because of Darien. He doesn't want Burk to lose Ravit.

"I can handle myself and it shouldn't matter whether Burk and I are involved or not." Ravit raised her voice and she saw that the woman was upset about it.

"You afraid that Carlton might get hurt?" She asked. She knew the look Ravit had. She might be upset that she was pulled off the team, but she was also afraid because of Burk.

Ravit nodded at her and she nodded back. Recognizing the same feelings inside of her. Danny would be gone too.

"Danny, Frankie, Wolf, Javier and Mike will have his back." She tried to say reassuringly. Wanting to hear the words herself.

Ravit then reached to hug her and she was glad she had her as a friend. She was glad that from the start of this nightmare Ravit has been there for her and she has been there for Ravit. Now they would be keeping company to each other while their partners would be gone.

Then they heard someone clearing their throat from beside them and as they broke off the hug they saw Danny and Carlton followed by Frankie and Javier.

"We interrupting something?" Frankie gave a look at the two of them and they glanced at each other and burst out smiling. Wanting to keep the secret of their conversation to themselves.

"Just girl talk." Ravit said.

"Yeah.. Something about how good the package is." Kara said chuckling and glanced at Ravit who then smiled even more. And then Frankie whispered something to Javier and the only ones who weren't smiling were Burk and Danny. Puzzled by what was going on around them.

"You're all crazy." Burk stated as he left to walk towards Rachel's laboratory. They were suppose to get their shots now.

She felt his arm on her shoulder and she turned around. The rest of the group had followed quickly after Burk.

"Are you okay?" She heard his tender voice and she met his gaze.

"No. But there's not much to do about it." She answered.

"I'll be alright." He said as he hugged her. It was comforting to feel his strong arms around her.

But then they were reminded of a more joyous thing happening in their lives. Their baby kicked and both she and Danny felt it. They were both looking at her round belly and smiled.

"I hope that you'll get the vaccine soon too." He said and she heard his worry from his voice.

"Dr. Scott is prioritizing the women and children first and equally distributing the vaccine between the enlisted and the civilians." She explained.

"But I do worry whether it might hurt the baby." She met his eyes. Wanting to know if he felt the same fear as she did.

"It's too risky if you don't take it." She heard his voice, it was calm and firm. She knew he didn't want to lose her nor the baby.

She nodded and they continued towards the laboratory.


	34. Chapter 34 - Two weeks later

35\. Two weeks later

x

 _She still remembered the pointless argument with the Captain. He was refusing to take the vaccine before everyone else was vaccinated against the Red Flu. Stubborn man! She thought. What did it matter when he got his shot, she had enough doses for the people on the island._

 _It was already two weeks after the heated argument and he still refused the vaccine. She was supposed to check up on him soon anyway so she had a plan in mind. For some reason the Captain felt he could confide in her and talk with her about Darien and the sudden loss of her. She felt like she was almost his therapist, but she did feel it was nice that he felt he could trust in her, after everything that has happened. And he had cried openly in front of her and she had hold her arms around him. Of course she hadn't thought about it then, but after their argument, she felt the man was making her feel furious inside of her, not realizing why she was so agitated over the Captain. She had been against him before in the Arctic too, but it hadn't never felt like this._

So on her way to the Captain's quarters she was alarmed by Commander Green who said that the land team had returned with survivors. Survivors that needed the vaccine. Sighing to herself. And the Captain would refuse the vaccine once again.

Since the people on the ship and on the island had now been inoculated against the Red Flu, she could meet the survivors without a risk of exposure. But she was making the count in her mind as she looked over the survivors on the deck. A group of young teens, most of them just children and an older man. She would have to manufacture more, but she was running low on the supplies and she hoped the team had scavenged more for her. The older man had passed his shot to one of the others in the group as she only had a few doses left. She would give him a shot later, she thought.

* * *

"What happened?" She heard Chandler's uptight voice as she was standing in the wardroom with Lieutenants Green and Burk.

"Sir. We weren't the only ones in New Orleans." Burk gave a look towards Danny.

Apparently it seemed that New Orleans was taken over by some sort of cult. People that were immune to the disease had somehow gotten it into their minds that they were _Chosen_. Chosen to survive. The more she heard about what was going on, more she felt sick. How could someone poison the minds of innocent survivors with this kind of trash talk about being _the chosen ones?_

But she was even more shocked when she heard that the team had discovered that the Immunes were trying to infect the surviving people in the safe zone outside New Orleans. The survivors they had with them, the team had managed to rescue. And they were just young teens, some of them even children. Just when she thought she could finally breath. She had done the unthinkable, she had created a vaccine and a cure. How were they going to distribute the vaccine now? To save the world? To save whatever was left of the world they once knew?

"We believe their leader is one Sean Ramsey, sir." Danny said and met Chandler's gaze. They hadn't mentioned the one thing that was obvious, Slattery hadn't returned with the team.

"Commander Slattery asked to be left behind. He's going to infiltrate the Immunes, sir." Burk continued.

"And Senior Chief Taylor requested to stay behind too." Danny added.

She saw the look on Chandler's face, he was biting his lip and processing everything in his mind.

"But we have a nuclear powered ship. We can make threats." She gave a look at the men.

"And that's all they would be, threats. They know we won't nuke our own country." Tom said and met her eyes.

After Lieutenants Green and Burk had left, she was alone with Tom in the room.

"You have enough vaccine for the group of survivors?" She heard his faint voice.

"I need to make more, but yes." She answered. It was pointless to argue with the Captain about him being vaccinated. She thought that his time would come eventually. If he were to leave the island, he needed the shot.

"But I need more supplies for making the vaccine and frankly I don't know how we are going to succeed in our task." She stated.

After a moment of silence, she spoke. She had given some thought to the matter, but pushed the horrific thoughts away from her mind. But she had to mention it now.

"I have thought about another way to create the vaccine.." She started to tell not sure whether she could say it out loud. She knew the Captain, he would never agree to it. It was against the law, against the rules and against the core values of being a decent human being.

"If I could get my hands on the patient zero.. To take a biopsy of his lungs, I might be able to discover why he is contagious with the virus. Perhaps I can make the cure contagious as well." She explained. Feeling the shivers on her skin to even mention him around the Captain. Knowing all too well that he was responsible of the deaths of everyone they had hold dear.

"You're asking me a permission to what..? Cut him open?" Chandler stared at her and she saw his eyes, he was angry that she had brought him up.

"Yes. Especially since it will be against his will and it's a risky procedure." She said.

"No." She heard his voice.

"All due respect Tom, he started all of this. He has probably killed most of the population on earth and the virus is still spreading. Are we to keep him forever under guard, in a isolation tent?" She raised her voice sounding desperate.

"I know what he has done." He stated. She knew she shouldn't push the matter further and she saw he was angry.

Before leaving the room she said "Just think about it."

* * *

Later when she was sitting in her work space, she was alerted by the sound. Sound of a gun being fired. She rushed to the corridor and saw Lieutenant Smith running towards her.

"You better come ma'am." She heard him and he looked pretty shell shocked. Suddenly she had a bad feeling about it all.

As they came to the doorway that led to the room where the patient zero has been the last months. She entered inside and looked around the room. Niels was lying inside the tent, a clear bullet hole in his forehead.

"He took away everything." She heard his voice. Then she looked at Tom as he sat on the floor leaning against the wall with a gun in his hand all the while dressed in a hazmat suit. His mask was off, now that Niels was dead.

"Lieutenant, get Commander Garnett." She ordered and closed the door.

She was out of words. She felt the heavy touch of guilt pressing on her chest. She felt that it might as well have been her that pulled the trigger. She had been talking with him about patient zero a few hours earlier and if he had done it because of her.. But she couldn't stop the other side of her, the side that felt relief.

"Tom.." She sat down slowly beside him.

"If he hadn't done what he did. Darien could have had a chance." He said and she realized that he might have taken Niels's life out of anger and revenge, gone against all of his core rules and regulations he has stand for his entire life.

"It's true. There might have been a chance." She agreed saying quietly.

The door opened and Commander Garnett walked in. And she was as stunned as she felt.

"What happened?" Andrea looked at the two of them and she got up from the floor. The scene in front of her was pretty clear. Niels lying dead on the floor and Tom holding a gun in his hand.

"Commander Garnett, you are in charge of this mission as of now. Captain Chandler isn't stable enough and Commander Slattery isn't here." "Officially patient zero committed suicide." Rachel said with a clear tone. Last thing they needed was another hysteria amongst the survivors.

Andrea nodded and glanced at Tom who was just sitting there staring in front of him.

"Unofficially.." Rachel shared a look with Andrea and they both looked down at the Captain.


	35. Chapter 35 - Kept promise?

35\. Kept promise?

x

 _They had reached New Orleans in the middle of the night. Steering the boat near the harbor, they saw the safe zone that was made out of several vessels and cruise ships. It was rather normal to hear the chatter and laughter of people surviving there but they needed to find a place to hide for the time being. Their mission was to observe and find out if it was safe to come there._

 _Staying at a hotel near the harbor they had their eyes on the blooming safe zone and on day 3 they hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary._

 _But on day 5.. They heard the gun shots fired from one the vessels and they saw armed people running away and shooting at the civilians that had fired. It was rather puzzling to witness, not sure what was going on, so Commander Slattery took a trip to the vessel and what the civilians told him was terrible. Apparently the armed group had tried to infect them with the virus. Horrified of what they had found out, it seemed that the armed group called themselves the Immunes and thought they were the selected to rise from the ashes of the deadly virus._

 _A couple of days later the armed group was back, this time with reinforcements and they knew they had to stop them. So they had been standing together with the civilians as there was shots fired back and forth._

" _Green. Report back to Chandler. I'm gonna make some new friends." Slattery had said to him as he then "switched" sides._

" _But sir.." He looked at Commander Slattery not sure if he had heard him right._

" _This Immune nonsense goes way up to the top. We need an inside man." Slattery said firmly._

 _He nodded and Slattery left them as they were retreating the heavy fire to inside the ship. Luckily the Immunes stopped shooting at them for the time being, but they wouldn't be safe for long. He just hoped Slattery knew what he was doing._

 _Once inside the ship his eyes glanced at a young woman. He looked straight into her eyes and he recognized the look. The familiar eyes he had seen before._

They were approaching the island, Commander Garnett had ordered almost everyone unnecessary on the ship back to the island. He had heard the gun shot and wondered what was going on, but his focus was on the survivors. A lot of them were just children so he didn't want to alert them by charging to find out about what was happening. But he had seen Garnett's face. What ever it was, it was big.

As they reached the island there was quite a lot of people waiting for them but he kept searching for one in particular.

And there he was, sitting on the beach taking a sip of his water.

He gave a helping hand to the survivors and the particular young woman he had seen in New Orleans. He helped her to sit on the narrow pier on a crate. Because of her obvious round belly, she shouldn't strain herself too much. It had already been a rough journey from New Orleans.

As he turned around he saw Kara coming towards him. He smiled. Her round belly had gotten bigger too. "Hi" He placed his hand on her cheek and kissed her quickly. "We missed you." She said as he broke off the gentle kiss. Nodding to her, he glanced at the man on the beach.

"I need to take care of something. It won't take long." He then said and she gave way for him.

"Good to have you back. I've been boring your wife with all my nonsense." He heard the man as he got up and stood in front of him.

"Somehow I don't think you are boring." He had an amused look as he met Tex's gaze.

"So how's the world out there?" Tex asked and glanced at the new group of survivors on the pier.

"Tex. I found her." He said with a more serious tone and met Tex's eyes as he looked shocked at his words.

"Kat?" Tex was surprised and in disbelief that his only daughter would be alive.

They walked towards the young woman who was still sitting by the pier. He noticed Tex stare at the young woman and stop in his steps. Looking at Tex, he wondered what was wrong.

"That's not Kat." Tex gave a look at him and the young woman heard their conversation.

"What? She said her name was.." Danny began telling and he was interrupted by the young woman.

"I lied." She said embarrassed and he was already blaming himself because he had just given false hope to a man. That he had found his daughter after all.

"Why did you lie?" He said a little too much anger in his voice as he met the woman's eyes, noticing that she was scared. Remembering how it was he that had asked if her name was Kat Nolan. Rookie mistake, he thought.

"I needed to be safe." She explained and placed her hand on her very round belly.

"We would have taken care of you without the lying." He stated with a firm voice.

"Well I heard you guys talking about the Nathan James." She added and glanced towards the ships in the distance.

"My name is Samantha Albright and I.." She began telling, but Tex continued with a soft and caring voice "And you look just like your mother."

"You know her?" He was puzzled.

"How old are you?" Tex asked giving the young woman a soft smile.

"19, will be 20 in may." She looked strangely at Tex.

"Was Charlene Albright your mother?" Tex continued.

"Yes."

"Well Green. You kept your promise after all. Instead of Kat, you found a daughter I never knew I had." Tex explained and looked pretty shocked after this revelation. He had just found out that he was a father to this young woman and would soon be a grandfather. So he hadn't been wrong about the eyes, the young blond woman had her father's eyes.

"Your Kenneth Nolan?" She gave a look at Tex.

"Yeah. Your mother and I.. We were briefly together all those years ago.." Tex said and from the sound of his voice he heard that it was painful to think about Samantha's mother.

But as they were on the pier the young woman quickly began holding her belly more and making a sound that alerted him to the fact that she might be in labor.

"Is that _The Nathan James_?" She asked as she began to focus on her breathing to endure the pain.

"Yes, but why do you ask?" He wondered. But then it hit him. "When is your due date?"

"I'm over my due date." She said and he began telling back the months. The Nathan James sailed in June last year and if she was over her due date.. The baby was probably conceived just before the Nathan James left to the Arctic. But by whom?

"Cruz! Go get Dr. Scott and hurry." He alerted him and Cruz gave him a look. "Did she say her name is Samantha Albright?" Cruz whispered to him and he eyed the man. How'd he knew about her?

* * *

Thank you for the reviews! :)


	36. Chapter 36 - Mystery father

36\. Mystery father

 _x_

 _1995_

 _He had been in his twenties when he had met her. From the moment he first laid his eyes on this beauty in front of him, her golden locks shining in the light. Brown eyes and the smile that made his knees weak. Charlene was his first love, but she was a stubborn woman, chuckling to himself as he still could so easily picture her vivid in the back of his mind._

 _But their love only lasted for a few months because he left New Orleans due to his work. A decision he had made, but had always regretted. And when he finally had returned, he didn't find her anymore. She didn't answer to his calls either. So he had to mend his broken heart and forget this wonderful woman he had once known. After a while, he met Claire. Kathleen's mother._

"I trust you don't have anymore daughters in your past?" "Would make my task a little easier.." He heard Danny's voice as he walked to sit beside him in the dining area at the main house.

Smiling and glancing at him. "Well I can't be entirely sure." He tried to say with a smile, but at the moment he was worried. Worried about Kathleen, how was she doing. If she was alive. Worrying about the new daughter that was in labor in the very building they were sitting at.

"You okay?" He heard Danny's voice, this time more serious in tone.

"I don't know." He said honestly.

"How'd you be if you suddenly found out you had a secret child?" Tex met Danny's gaze.

"That you never got to raise." He added.

"You loved her mother." Danny said and he nodded to him. Yeah, he had loved Charlene and now her daughter was here to bring all the memories back.

"I did. Still probably do." He admitted.

Then they saw Maria come out of the room where it all was happening and they both held their breaths. "I'm just getting some supplies. Everything's going well." She said to reassure them.

"Just wait, your turn will be soon." Tex smiled a bit at Danny and he smiled back. Danny would soon be in the same position, when Kara would give birth to their baby. He still remembered the day when Kathleen was born. Being there for Claire, holding her hand as she was enduring the pain of childbirth. And when he heard the cry of this little girl, he was overjoyed. Tearing up as it was suddenly the sweetest sound he had ever heard. He was processing all of it in his mind. He had become a father again today and would be a grandfather soon. Chuckling, a grandfather. As he was thinking he saw Cruz coming towards them.

"You!" Tex exclaimed as he got up and walked quickly in front of Cruz.

"How do you know my daughter?" He stared at Cruz. Noticing that Danny got up as well, probably to hold the peace between the two them.

"Because the father of the child spoke of her." Cruz explained calmly, giving a look to Danny.

"And who might that be?" Tex asked.

"Sir, all I can say that he loves her. They had been writing letters for a while and they met in Norfolk before we were deployed to the Arctic." Cruz told them.

"You can say his name." Danny said.

"I think it's best that she tells the story. It's not my place to reveal secrets, because I'm certain the father of the baby doesn't know." Cruz added and sat down by the table.

"You sure it's love and not just a fling?" He came to sit by the table and eyed Cruz, seeing that he was uneasy to speak about it.

"The way he spoke of her. He loves her and I'm pretty sure he was going to ask her to marry him." Cruz said as his voice saddened.

"He's a good man, smart and young. Just needs a little self confidence and experience." Cruz described the man and he noticed the look he shared with Danny.

"I suppose you might know who he is." Tex met Danny's look and Danny nodded.

* * *

05:47, March 6th 2015.

He had a grandson now.

It was later the day, he thought it was best to give some time to his new daughter after her long hours giving birth. He gently knocked the door and heard a voice saying it was okay to come in. He entered to the room and saw her holding the little boy wrapped in blankets on her chest. Smiling at the view, he almost thought he was looking at her mother. She looked just like her, only younger.

"Congratulations! I hear it's a boy." He smiled at her and walked a little closer to her bed.

"Thank you." She gave him a look and he noticed that she felt the situation a little awkward. She didn't know him and there he was standing beside her bed.

"I know you are probably as surprised as I am, but I loved your mother." He said, he wanted her to know that he had loved her.

"I know, my mom was always so sad when she spoke of you." She said.

"Then why didn't she answer my calls?" He asked, but how could his daughter know the answer to that question. He might never discover the answer.

"Is she alive?" He thought to ask even though he was afraid of the answer.

"She died a few years ago." He heard her say with a depth of sorrow and he saw the way she was looking at her newborn son. With mother's love.

"I'm sorry." He said. "But I'm still here if you need me." He added and she met his gaze.

"You want to hold him?" She asked and he was a bit startled by the question. It was a long time ago since he had hold a little baby in his arms. He nodded and stepped closer to take the little boy in his arms. He was smiling as he looked down to the little boy who was sleeping. He saw the faint redness in his hair.

"This one is a charmer." He chuckled.

"So was his father." She stated sadly. He heard from the sound of her voice that she was in love with the young man.

"Was? You know what happened to him?" He looked at her.

"No. Last I heard of him was when the Nathan James returned from the Arctic. He was going to travel to visit his mother and then come to me in New Orleans." She told him.

"I didn't tell him. Wanted it to be a surprise." She said as she looked down at her hands that were intertwining in her lap.

"I'll help you find him." He said and she met his gaze.

"We'll find him." He repeated reassuringly and she nodded.

"So, does this little guy have a name?" He looked down at the boy again.

"I named him after his grandfather." "From his father's side. He died in the line of duty." She said with a unsure voice. He smiled, it didn't matter to him if the boy was named after him or someone else. All that mattered that he got a chance to get know the little boy and the boy's mother.

"Brian Eric Miller is his name." She smiled. "Eric is his father's name."

"It fits him perfectly." He said and he gave Baby Brian back to his mother.

"We'll find Eric." He placed his hand on her shoulder, giving her hope that she might be reunited with her love one day.

* * *

It's nice to read the reviews! Thank you! :)


	37. Chapter 37 - Just wait

37\. Just wait

x

"Can you imagine it? Miller, a father?" Burk said with a light tone as they seated themselves in the wardroom.

"Hey, he loved her." Cruz said with a serious look on his face which said knock it off and have some respect. Just because Miller had seemed like a scared little boy, didn't mean they had an excuse to joke about him.

Burk nodded and looked a little ashamed of his words, not thinking entirely through his comment when he had said it.

"Good, you're all here." Commander Garnett stepped inside the room with her safety glasses and ear protection which gave them the expression that she came up from the engine room.

"Where's Captain Chandler?" Danny asked and as he said it Dr. Scott came in and said "He's down with the flu." "Not the Red Flu." She added quickly. Perhaps she should have come up with another excuse, fever or something.

Andrea glanced at Rachel, they had agreed that the only ones who should know about what happened with Niels, should be the four of them, herself, Rachel, Tom and Smith. The less people knew, the better. It was going to be hard to not reveal the real reason behind Niels death, but she didn't want another panic wave going through the survivors on her watch.

Andrea sat down and gave way for Rachel to speak. After all there was little she could say about their future plan. The only thing they could do was wait for Commander Slattery, hoping that whatever he was planing would work.

"Since the situation on land is more severe than we thought.." Rachel began as she walked around the wardroom with her arms crossed on her chest.

"Our supplies to manufacture the vaccine are limited and we risk of being targeted if and when we would return to the states." She gave a look at the people.

"But I have been working on making the cure contagious. Just like our prisoner, but instead of carrying the virus, the idea is to carry the cure." She explained.

"It would spread like a common cold, making the distribution of the vaccine more easier process." She said.

"And what about our prisoner?" She heard Danny's question and remembered that he had been on the ship when it happened.

She sighed and met Andrea's gaze. They had decided that they shouldn't tell them the truth, but these were the people who have been on this mission from the very start. People they trusted.

"The truth is, he's dead." She said bluntly.

"And the Captain isn't down with the flu. It was Tom who did it." She explained and the looks in the room were a mixture of surprise, understanding and relief.

"This information doesn't leave this room. You understand that? Last thing we need is to worry the survivors with this." Andrea stood up and used her best expression of a commander in charge. Everyone nodded to her.

After the shocking revelation Rachel continued that she had taken samples from the patient zero and was hoping to narrow down which virus mutation hold the key to the mutation, that he had been a carrier to the virus.

"Dr. Scott will continue her work and we will be sticking to the plan Commander Slattery started. At the moment we just have to wait for him." Andrea stated after Rachel was done.

"And what if he's dead?" Burk asked, glancing around him. Someone had to say the obvious. They couldn't be sure whether he was alive or dead. What if his plan hadn't worked?

"Since Taylor isn't back, we can only assume that things are going as planned." Andrea replied, keeping the hope alive. That someday this nightmare might be over. That someday they might get to go home. That someday the world they had once known would be the same, although how could it be the same when so many people were lost to the most contagious disease of all time?


	38. Chapter 38 - Redemption

38\. Redemption

x

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw blood on his hands. It wasn't really there, but in his mind his hands were tainted with blood. He had taken a life out of anger, he had been feeling the storm rage on inside of him. Wanting revenge for the death of his wife, and not just Darien. For the deaths of everyone that the virus had taken. But he had taken a life of an unarmed man. Still remembering how he had entered inside the tent, noticing the scared eyes of the prisoner as he had seen the gun he was holding. Sometimes he even heard his voice, begging him not to do it, but he had done it. Killed him cold bloodedly.

Sure, he was a prisoner, but never convicted for his crimes. Who was he to judge him? He had killed before, but there had been a reason why he had pulled the trigger. Now the reason wasn't entirely clear. What would Darien have thought of him now? And his own father? An ex-army man? He had wanted to stay at their family cabin, he wasn't budging anywhere, he said to him. Tom knew that if someone would manage to survive through the sickness, it would be him.

Even though Commander Garnett hadn't ordered him to be prisoned, he felt he had to be punished. So he mostly stayed in his stateroom, in his self-imposed solitary. He took a trip to meet his children every day. He was grateful that Christine was there for Ashley and Sam. Christine and Darien had been close, so his children trusted her.

He could only talk to Rachel. Darien wasn't there anymore. Mike was gone. Andrea had too much work on her hands now. And he didn't want to burden others with his thoughts. Master Chief visited him daily, trying to reason with him, but he didn't feel that it helped.

He felt that it was only Rachel that understood him. She was the one to make the proposition in the first place. She had thought about taking the risk. The risk that might cost a man his life, but she had been willing to take it. He did wonder if it had been better that he had given her the permission to do the operation. At least then his life would have been in the hands of a greater force than in his hands. But no matter how he thought about the different outcomes of the scenarios in his mind, he felt there only had been one solution. And it was the one he had taken, even if it was haunting him now.

He noticed Rachel come in as he came back from his thoughts.

"I saw a man leave your lab earlier. He looked familiar." He said as he gave a speculative look towards her.

"Yes, another stubborn man who won't take the vaccine." Rachel sat down across from him. He heard she was annoyed at the man's choice.

"Perhaps he too has his reasons." He gave a look at her.

"I'm testing his blood as we speak. Perhaps he's immune." Rachel told him.

"But enough of that. How are you doing?" She looked at him.

"I don't think I'm any better than yesterday." He avoided her gaze. He had dedicated his entire life to living up to rules and obeying the law and now he had broken those values close to his heart.

* * *

After Rachel had left his stateroom, his thoughts wondered back to the man he had seen earlier the day. A man that according to Dr. Scott hadn't agreed to take the vaccine. It made him feel somewhat puzzled, a little guarded. And he could swear he had seen him before.

He left his stateroom and decided to take a visit to the Crew Lounge. Looking at the old magazines there, he found a few older Time magazines and looked quickly through them.

He wasn't sure what he was trying to prove. He could just confront the man himself, but he had seemed scared, haunted even. So he thought there was probably more to his story then just surviving on land.

Then his eyes saw something. He opened the magazine and saw the picture of a man smiling in a clean shave. How far was the image of the man now? He looked more like Tom Hanks in Cast Away than the man in the picture. Now he could pay him a visit, he thought.

It didn't take long for him to track the man down. He was still aboard the ship, waiting for Dr. Scott's results. Although he had a hunch that the man was immune. Why else would a survivor turn down the vaccine? He walked beside him by the rail and showed him the magazine with the article he had found. Tom met the man's gaze as he realized that he knew who he was.

"So you know who I am." He heard the man say and he gave the magazine back to him.

"Question is, why hide who you are?" He asked as he stared down the man, seeing that he was hiding something.

"I'm not hiding, just not telling the truth." He explained.

"What happened?" He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the man. Wanting to hear the story.

Somehow he saw through the man, saw that he was lost, perhaps it was because he was too. Seeing that he wasn't going to speak to him, he thought he should share his guilt. Perhaps he would open himself up then.

He leaned his back against the rail while the man beside him was leaning to the rail with his hands.

"I killed a man." He started and told the story to the man he had never met before. Told him about the discovery of patient zero. The man who weaponized the virus. Virus that didn't leave many alive in its wake. He told him why he pulled the trigger, out of anger and revenge. He noticed his voice get tighter at the thought of it. The man beside him looked at him with a stunned expression.

"I would have probably done the same." He heard the man say with a heavy voice. Despite being a man of order and law, at the moment he was as lost as he.

"But what I did was far more worse." He met the man's eyes and saw he was about to cry. He noticed the marks on his wrists. He had tried to kill himself for sure. So whatever he had done had to be worth taking his own life.

He listened to the man as he told him about what happened to his family. He had been in charge of a safe zone in Florida, against CDC protocol he had flown in his only son, who had the virus. The safe zone was compromised. He then told about how he had filled the wish of his dying wife, end the misery of their two remaining children, but it hadn't been as easy as he thought it would have been. He suddenly felt that his guilt of taking one man's life wasn't as big as the story he was hearing now. He felt tears in his eyes too, the thought of the situation he was telling him about. Would he have been able to do it, if Darien had asked him?

They were standing there quietly as he thought about it all. The man was haunted by his actions, he had tried to kill himself, but he was still here. He could have just tried to find a gun and end it all. But he was still here.

"You can't undo what you did. Neither can I. We will carry the heavy burden with us forever." He said and realized that he would have to come to terms of his crime if he would require the same from him.

"But this mission needs a leader, and I'm not talking about myself." He met the man's gaze.

"Surely you can't expect that I.. I can't help these people." He stated, horrified of the thought of being a leader.

"With all due respect, you're probably the only surviving member of the government of the United States. You have a duty to your country and right now that country needs your help." He stared at the man. Not wavering in his look as he meant what he said.

"Let this be your redemption." He added forcefully, trying to reach out to him.

"I forgive you, if you forgive me." He whispered and saw the man open his mouth but he didn't say anything, he just nodded and he felt a feeling of being strangely free, although his mind wouldn't let him forget his actions that easily, but perhaps this was the start of it all. To forgive himself that he hadn't been there for Darien nearly as enough than he should have. That against his better judgement he had done something that had been wrong.

* * *

Just to clarify a little.. It does state in chapter 35 that Tom was wearing a hazmat suit at the time he took Niels's life (he entered the tent and came out). Which means he was not exposed to the virus. :)


	39. Chapter 39 - Secrecy

39\. Secrecy

x

It was already May and the temperature was rising. Luckily they had gotten a word from Captain Chandler that they weren't strict with the clothing anymore. He smiled to himself when he had seen the Captain come out in full uniform and after a few moments he was sweating like a pig. Shortly after this incident he heard about his decision to allow them to wear the clothes they chose. Which is why he was standing on guard duty on the deck of the Russian ship in a T-shirt and shorts. If he was going to be here all day, might as well be comfortable.

It had been over two months since they had come back from New Orleans. And they still hadn't got any word from Commander Slattery. He saw that people were getting restless. How long would they have to wait? To know if he had succeeded in whatever he was trying to succeed in. But it had been two pretty interesting months on the island as well. Chandler had finally started to appear in the meetings, even though the guilt he was carrying on his shoulders was apparent. But what was most interesting, was the fact that he had most likely brought with him the President of the United States when he returned from New Orleans with the group of survivors. And now there had been going this active campaign where the President has been talking with the survivors about the plans to help America back to its feet. The President and Chandler have been working very closely on the plan for the future. Which was all great, but how did they know there was a future to plan for?

As he leaned against the railing and let out a sigh, this would be a long day. He looked around the horizon, nothing out of the ordinary, but as he took a second look he saw something. Reaching for the binoculars he had on him, he took a closer look. A fishing boat coming towards them.

"Commander Green, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" He opened his comm. It had to be showing on the radar by now.

"Lieutenant Green, that's affirmative. We have a target on the radar." He heard her voice confirm him that she was up to speed on the imminent threat. Or was it a threat?

He saw the boat slow down in speed and tried to see what was going on, but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Lieutenant Green, they're friendly." He heard her voice and relaxed a little.

He saw Chandler, Rachel and Kara come towards him on the deck and the boat was soon by their ship. He wondered who the people were since they were getting this big of an audience.

"You going to tell me who it is?" He glanced at Kara who had an maxi dress on her. It was less than two months til their baby would be born.

"It's Miller." She smiled and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Miller? Eric Miller who was in Iowa when the virus came. But how did he knew to come here? It had to be Slattery. So that meant that he was alive still.

"And apparently he's accompanied by Kathleen Nolan. The real one this time around." He felt her bump his shoulder. Yeah, they were joking about that, how he had come back with the wrong daughter. He felt like smiling though. Tex was one lucky guy. Now apparently his other daughter was here too.

There they were, Miller and Kathleen, standing on the deck and them four staring at them. Miller had glanced at Kara's very pregnant belly and did try to avoid staring at it more. Danny tried to hold back his smile as he thought about how Miller would be even more surprised later.

Miller had come to the island indeed because of Slattery's bidding. He had left the safe zone in Iowa to travel down to New Orleans and to find Samantha, the girl he had been in contact before the Nathan James had sailed to the Arctic. He hadn't found her, but he had found Slattery and started to follow him around as it was strange that he seemed to be working with the Immunes. And one day he was caught, by a bigger and stronger looking man which turned out to be Wolf. When he was then brought to Slattery, it had been quite the reunion.

"So what is his plan?" Tom required and stared at Miller.

"I don't know. I just followed orders." Miller explained, feeling a little stressed at the interrogation.

"He didn't tell me the specifics." Miller added.

"He probably doesn't want to risk blowing up whatever he is planning." Danny added as he listened to the conversation. It was too risky if too many knew about it.

"All I know that the Immune army is growing and fast." Miller stated.

"Did he send a message for us then?" Tom asked.

"Just that we are to wait here." Miller said.

"How did you found Kathleen?" He asked and glanced at the girl beside Miller.

"It was Slattery, he told me about Tex, and the promise that was given to him. We went to look for her and there she was. On the farm." Miller explained.

"I gather you've been vaccinated already?" Rachel came into the discussion and both Miller and Kathleen nodded. Slattery had taken some doses of the vaccine with him.

"Come on, I'll take you to the island." He patted Miller to the shoulder and guided them towards the aft of the ship.

He radioed to the island that Tex and Samantha should come to the pier. He didn't want to tell why, just yet.

As they arrived to the pier, Kathleen almost jumped out of the RHIB and ran to her father's arms.

"Dad!" He heard her joyous voice.

"Oh Kat. You're really here." Tex said as he hold his daughter in his arms. He saw he was breaking in tears as he was holding her after a long time.

He tried to look around but Samantha wasn't there. Perhaps it was something with the baby, he thought.

"Here's the man that rescued her." He gestured towards Miller as they all stood on the pier and then Samantha appeared, it being obvious that she had been breastfeeding since she was trying to fix her shirt and hold the baby at the same time.

"Sam..?" Miller's face went white and he looked at the sight in front of him.

"Eric." Sam said with a smile, but as he followed the situation Miller wasn't as happy anymore as he saw the baby she was holding. Before she could tell him that Miller was the father, he saw him walk past her.

He sighed. "Miller! Wait!" He shouted with authority in his voice and the young man stopped and turned around "What?" Seeing the obvious hurt in his face even though anyone could see the reddish hair of the baby showing from under the baby's light hat.

He understood him, he thought the one girl he thought he could trust, had betrayed him in a way that was most awful.

"I gather you have met this lovely woman before? Samantha is her name." He said and Miller stared at his feet. Not meeting Sam's gaze.

He felt that it was wrong that he was actually enjoying this a little, keeping the secret from Miller, but then again he was acting like a brat. He was going to walk away and not even hear her side of the story.

"And this is your son, Brian Eric." He heard Sam step closer to Miller and show him the baby. Miller's eyes were big and round and his mouth dropped open as he was processing the information he had just heard.

"And this is Sam's father, your future father-in-law." He thought to say so that he was even more shocked about all of it.

"Nice to meet you kid. Tex is the name." Tex said with an amused tone.


	40. Chapter 40 - Triumph (part 1)

40\. Triumph (part 1)

x

It seemed very much so that almost the entire old gang that embarked on the journey to the Arctic over a year ago was together again. Although there were many people from the original crew that they still didn't know anything about. All they could do was hope that they were still alive, holding on.

It was almost fourth of July, still no word from Slattery. Somehow he had a feeling that whatever Mike was doing was working. And what little Miller had told them, it sounded like Slattery had cooked up a plan. But it still felt wrong that they were just living on this island doing very little to help Mike and Wolf. Rachel had been working on her attempt to create a contagious cure, but she wasn't telling him much about it. Perhaps she was afraid that it wouldn't work out as she had hoped.

There was a knock on his door and before he really gave any answer, Rachel walked in. He met her eyes and wondered why had she come.

"What's going on?" He stood up behind his desk and walked around it. He noticed she closed the door and walked towards him as he was standing in the middle of the room.

And out of nowhere she reached to kiss him, tongue included. He broke off almost immediately and looked at her. What was she doing?

"Care to explain?" He stared at her and her face wore a faint smile that was almost saying "got you".

"Well you're now cured for the Red Flu." She said with a happy tone. He was stunned.

"What..?" "Does the new cure require you kissing everyone?" He asked puzzled by the revelation.

"No, but you're a stubborn man since you won't take the vaccine, so I had no other choice." She explained and he noticed she was blushing a little. No other choice, she says.

He had turned down the vaccine before, wanting others to have it before him. He wasn't a priority. And he knew she didn't get it from his point of view.

"So you've managed to create a contagious cure?" He gave her a look.

"Yes, I have. I injected it to myself and cured the mouse infected by the virus. And now you." She smiled.

"You did what?!" He felt like raising his voice, she had risked herself and she was the one person they couldn't afford to lose.

"I'm fine as you can see. I wasn't going to risk someone else." She met his gaze.

He nodded quietly. There was little he could do or say now, she had already done it.

"Still no word from Slattery though." He continued.

"You worried?" She asked.

"Not really, no. But now that you've created a contagious cure. I think we need to head back home nevertheless. We need to start spreading the cure." He stated.

She nodded and before she could say anything more they were interrupted as there was a knock on the door. It was Alisha.

"Rachel? Kara is having her baby." Alisha said and she left with her.

* * *

"So when do you two lovebirds are going to have a baby?" Tex smirked at Burk and Ravit as they sat closely together at the main house, waiting for news from the room where Kara was.

Ravit gave a smile to Burk before he answered "One day."

"Well you aren't getting any younger." Tex stated with a light tone.

"You think everything's going fine?" Alisha came into the discussion.

"It takes time." She felt Maria's hand give her forearm a light touch. She met Maria's warm gaze and they stared at each other a little. Which was probably long enough as Tex whistled in a suggestive tone giving the idea that there was something going on there. They both burst out laughing.

"Just trying to keep the atmosphere happy." Tex chuckled and the two women looked a little blushed.

"Man.. Are all the girls taken here?" Frankie stated with a frustrating tone and was petting Halsey.

"Looks like it's just you and me girl." He whispered to Halsey.

And then as much as Tex had hoped to keep the atmosphere cheerful as they waited, they heard screaming. Literally screaming. And additional voices, but they couldn't make out what was being said.

A few moments went and they heard a baby cry. Which made them smile as they figured out that the worst part was over. And then Danny came out to give them an update.

"It's a boy." He was overjoyed. And Tex gave the man a hug. "Congrats." He patted his back as they hugged.

There were a lot of congratulations and Danny went back into the room where Kara was holding their son on her chest, staring at him in wonder and touching his toes and fingers, like she was making sure everything's was there. Rachel was still in the room, attending to Kara, since there were still things that needed to be taken care of.

"You were amazing." He went beside her and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"Look at him." She whispered smiling and he sat on the edge of the bed and they were both looking at him in amazement. They had created this little person together and now he was here, he felt a strange mix of emotions inside of him. Joy, worry and excitement. This little person depended on them now.

"What are we going to call him?" He asked and met her gaze.

"I've been thinking, since it was because of Frankie that we started to make progress with the cure.. How about we name him after him?" She suggested and he nodded. It sounded right.

The following day it was the fourth of July and they were all gathered on the beach, celebrating the contagious cure and that they would soon leave this island. Chandler had made the decision that they needed to start spreading the cure with or without Slattery. But as they were chatting and eating, they were interrupted by the sound of a approaching boat.

People were scared that they had been found, it might be hostiles, but they soon saw who it was on the boat.

It was Mike and Wolf. Tom was smiling at the sight, and as he looked at the people who got up from the boat, he saw his own father. Feeling rather shocked that he had left the cabin he was at. His children recognized their grandpa and ran to greet him. And the last person who got up from the boat was Quincy. Tom glanced quickly at Rachel to see what she thought of him being there, still alive. She seemed to be stunned of the reveal that he was still alive.


	41. Chapter 41 - Triumph (part 2)

41\. Triumph (part 2)

x

After the reunion Slattery filled them in on everything that had been going on in New Orleans.

He had indeed made a convincing expression as an supposed Immune and gotten to a higher position using his police background as a source for intel, which had impressed both of the Ramsey's and the others working with them. And so he was introduced to their scientist who was apparently helping them with the process of infecting people to find more Immunes for their cause.

And the scientist turned out to be someone he had already met. It was Quincy. The Immunes had found him injured but alive, and from the white doctors coat they knew he was valuable. But Mike had quickly persuaded him to work alongside him, as he told him his family was safe and alive. So they came up with a plan.

"They thought we were producing some hideous mixture to infect people with the virus, but as it turns out we were manufacturing the vaccine in small amounts. Since I took some doses with me." Mike told them as they all sat around a bonfire. Listening to the telling like it was a ghost story.

"We were giving the cure to the people at the places we knew they were going to strike a day before, and helping some of the people to escape in a secure place."

"Rest of them were then discovered the following day as Immunes, making the Ramsey's think they were growing their army."

"But what about the bodies? Not all people are Immune?" He heard Rachel ask.

"Well we had to plant some infected that had died already, to make it convincing." Mike said with a look that told them he wasn't exactly happy about this particular part of the plan.

"They didn't know any of what was going on right under their noses."

"So since the Immune army was suddenly big and strong, we held a party in celebration of it, and the rest of the guys came with a sub."

"Then when they were drunk enough we took our attack. Holding them at gun point. We had after all gathered quite the resistance force in disguise." He smiled.

"We locked most of them to a prison that was guarded by the military."

"And the Ramsey's.. Well, they got a different fate."

"Since they were infecting people with this horrible virus, we broke into the CDC headquarters and well.. We weren't that picky. Took some Ebola and other samples with cool names. It was all Quincy though. I was just the leader of the operation." Mike told them.

"So you infected them with the samples?" Rachel asked not sure if she should be horrified of the fate they got, or happy that they got what they deserved - Taste of their own medicine. Quincy nodded seeming a little uncomfortable at the attention he was getting.

"Locked them up and we'll see how untouchable they're are now. Well, we won't see it, but you get the picture." Mike added even though he had doubted their decision for the Ramsey's, but in the end the Ramsey's had been spreading the deadly virus, giving infected teddy bears to innocent children. Sentencing them to death.

"And when did you find Mike then?" Tom gave a look at his father.

"Well our paths got crossed along the way.." Jed started his part of the storytelling.

"I had my radio back in the cabin and kept hearing about this Olympia place in Baltimore. Well, time was all I had and eventually I got tired of waiting and left to see what the fuss was about." Jed told them.

"So I ran into this guy, Thorwald. He told me this crazy thing about this woman by the name Granderson."

"Amy Granderson?" Jed heard and saw Alisha stand up and look at him.

"Yes, you knew her?" He wondered.

"She is my mother." Alisha said. "Is she alive?"

Jed shared a look with Mike and it was enough to tell Alisha that her mother wasn't alive anymore. She left the crowd and Maria followed after her.

He then told the rest of the story. Thorwald and he had stopped the shenanigans Granderson was doing. Claiming they had the cure, luring sick people to Olympia only to give them a lethal shot and then throwing their cold bodies to the furnace to keep the power on in the town. He still felt shivers on his back when he thought about it and during this battle, Thorwald had taken Granderson's life.

* * *

Kara, Maria and Ravit were sitting with Alisha later in the evening. She had just heard what her mother had been up to. Feeling sick by the thought of it all. Who had she been? She had always been distant, but now she didn't even know her anymore. Had she ever? How could she have done something like this?

"You want to talk?" Kara asked and Alisha glanced at her, her eyes wet from crying. Crying tears for that her mother had died. She was torn between if she was experiencing ache and sadness inside of her because of her mother, or for the people her mother had done wrong.

But as she tried to wipe the tears flooding down on her face, one thing was clear. Her mother wasn't worth the tears she was crying. Not after what she had done.

"I can't believe it. How could she?" She shook her head as if this was all a nightmare. But it wasn't.

"It's over now. She's not hurting anyone anymore." Maria gave a hug to Alisha as she sat beside her.

The world wasn't the same anymore. Hearing about what Alisha's own mother had been up to. It sounded horrible, what had made her do something like that? She did wonder what was waiting for them when they would return with the cure now? Would there be more of the likes of Amy Granderson or could they start rebuilding the country? She was alerted by Danny that their son needed her, so she left to tend to the baby. Walking little slowly and carefully as she had just given birth only yesterday.

"Hi little Frankie. Mommy's here." She took the baby from Danny. Feeling for the first time more confident that whatever would happen, they would make it through. She felt there was a future for them.


	42. Chapter 42 - Five years later

42\. Five years later..

Caution: Happy Endings x many coming up! (Might have gone a little overboard..) ;)

* * *

Tom Chandler

* * *

He heard the alarm go off as he woke up lying in his bed. He moved quickly to shut the alarm, before he would wake up his wife who was lying beside him. He smiled as he turned to look at her. Her brown hair scattered on the pillow as she was sleeping. He leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek and as he did so, he heard her voice "Love you too." He smiled at her words and got up and went to the bathroom to get ready for work.

He was walking through the improved Norfolk Naval Base when he spotted two familiar faces. Smiling as he changed his direction to walk to greet them.

"Didn't I just send you two on a deployment?" He chuckled a bit.

"I believe that was two months ago, sir." Danny answered quickly.

"If you have hard time remembering, perhaps you need to retire." Burk joked.

"Sir." He heard Burk add and he smiled at the comment.

"Good to have you back." Tom looked at the two of them. Seeing the slight nervous glance Burk gave to Danny. Yeah, he remembered the nervousness he had felt every single time the clock was ticking closer to the due date.

"I trust I'll be seeing you at my barbecue on Saturday?" Tom asked.

"Yes, sir." Danny nodded.

"Wouldn't miss it." Burk said.

"Well, I assume you want to get back to your wives." Tom smiled. Remembering all too well how it felt to come home to your wife, embrace her and kiss her. Give a hug to your kids.

"Say hi for mine, and that I'll be home the usual time." He said as he continued to walk towards the office building.

* * *

Danny Green & Carlton Burk

* * *

They parked the car on the driveway of a pale yellow two story house with a white picket fence. He glanced around as he saw his home. It felt good to come home. He saw Burk glance towards his own house right next door. Probably thinking the same as he was.

"Daddy!" He saw his son run to him from his house. As he got out of the car he took the little boy in his arms. "Hi you, look at you." He hugged him and he saw Burk's son run right after. "Dad!" Noah shouted as he run to Burk's arms. Looks like everyone was gathered at his house once again.

"Daddyy!" He then heard a longer shout as a dark haired little girl came rushing towards him. "Hi Annie." He balanced his oldest on his other arm as he picked up the little girl on his other.

Walking inside the house, he briefly noticed there were two people working in the kitchen. And a light brown haired little girl was twirling between the ladies, holding a doll in her arms as she was pretending to tend to the doll. A kid's stethoscope around her neck. Emily and Annie were almost the same in age. Emily was Tom's daughter.

"We're home." Burk raised his voice and he glanced at Burk with a smirk "This is my home, you know that right?" He placed his kids on the floor as they were off to play.

"Hi." He saw Ravit appear from the kitchen and give her husband a long kiss. Looking towards the kitchen, he didn't see her but as his eyes wandered around the first floor he then saw her come down the stairs. He couldn't help but smile, seeing her every time he came home made his heart skip a beat. "Missed you." He said as he took her in his arms and kissed her.

"Get a room will you." He heard Burk's sarcastic voice and he just had to put on a show as he kissed Kara even more.

"Oooh." He then heard Ravit say as the kiss did seem pretty hot. And he felt it in his body too.

"We have a room and trust me that I'm going to take full advantage of Commander Green later." Kara chuckled and he laughed at her comment. Leave it to her to be straightforward.

"I think we both have the same idea." Ravit gave a wink to Burk as the two ladies continued back to the kitchen leaving the two men staring at their waddling gait. He shared a look with Burk, they were in on this together this time around as their wives due dates were only three weeks apart.

"Tom says hi and he'll be home the usual time." Danny said as he entered to the kitchen. Seeing that Tom's wife was making preparations for the barbecue.

Hearing a chuckle to his words, he met her eyes as Rachel smiled. "He is punctual as always."

* * *

Mike Slattery

* * *

He was sitting on the couch of his house, snoring. And then he was suddenly awake. God he was tired after the night, Ravit had called in the middle of the night and said she thought she was in labor. He had driven her to the hospital to get a checkup, and as it turns out it was just Braxton Hicks contractions. He did wonder how she thought it was the real thing, she had after all given birth before. But on their way home, they stopped to buy chocolate ice cream since she was craving for it. He looked at his watch, 10:56 am. Burk and Green were back now, he smiled. Now they could take care of their wives and he could focus on his.

The night before he had been sent to the store to find pickles for Kara. He was sharing this duty with Tom, but since Tom was still working, and he was retired, staying home, he had more opportunities to take care for the two women. Christine had decided to start working after all these years and it was Mike's turn to be the stay at home parent.

As he came back from his thoughts, he looked around at the living room. It was quiet. He could hear the birds singing outside.

And then he realized it. It was _too quiet. He could hear the birds singing._ He pushed himself up from the couch and began running through the house. He was sure he hadn't slept more than five, ten minutes tops, but it was apparently enough time for his three year old twins to find something mischief to do. His heart was pulsing in his chest as he checked the rooms. The doors were locked so they hadn't left the house.

He paused for a moment in his movements as he heard giggling. It was Julie, he thought it was coming from his and Christine's bedroom. So he walked there and was greeted with a shocking discovery as the twins had somehow managed to get their hands on Christine's make up and used the make up on each other as well as the newly decorated wall with the fancy and expensive wallpaper. Christine was going to kill him now.

It was definitely time to pay a visit to the Green's residence. Perhaps he could talk Green and Burk into babysitting for the night, so he could take his wife out for a dinner to make amends with her.

* * *

Alisha Granderson

* * *

She was sitting in the bathroom, tapping nervously the floor with her foot as she waited. She glanced at her watch and took a deep breath. It was time.

She turned around the pregnancy test by the sink and gasped excitedly. She was pregnant! Finally, after so many months. After so many tries. But she still felt a little unsure if it was finally happening. It hadn't been as easy as she thought. But she was over two weeks late so the rational part in her brain shouted that she should be happy. This was it.

She rushed out from the bathroom to downstairs and saw her wife packing lunch bags for the kids. She embraced her and whispered to her ear "Guess what?"

She saw her stunned expression and knew immediately that she knew what she meant with the question.

"Is it true?" She heard Maria's voice as they looked at each other.

She nodded and they kissed each other.

They had gotten pretty close to each other on the island and despite that Maria had been together with a man before, she had somehow fallen for Alisha. Realizing that she felt so much more alive then she had before in her marriage.

* * *

Andrea Garnett

* * *

She was sitting on the living room floor on a play mat with a six month old baby Claire. Lily was on a summer camp with Ashley, Tom's daughter. Andrea was talking and looking how baby Claire was grabbing toys around her. She heard a sound from upstairs as Kat came down the stairs, she was getting ready for going to the Academy. She was going through a summer course at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

"How is she doing?" Kat asked with a soft voice.

"She's an angel, like her mother." Andrea smiled and met Kat's gaze. Claire was the child of Kat and Ray, a young man who she had met on the island. Ray too was enlisted in the Navy now.

"Dad's coming home tonight right?" Kat asked and Andrea nodded.

It was probably Tex's humor that had finally gotten to her. He could be charming when he wanted to be, but it was those jokes that always made her laugh and after it all, she felt laughter was one of the things in life she needed.

"How's my favorite girls doing?" They suddenly heard Tex's voice as he walked into the house with a heavy bag on his shoulder.

"Dad!" Kat went and gave her old man a hug. Andrea got up too and went to kiss her husband.

"I'm glad that you're home early." She smiled at him.

"Are you kidding? We gotta leave soon, if we want to make it to the barbecue the commodore is holding on Saturday." Tex said and then she remembered the annual barbecue.

"You coming Kat?" Tex went and took Claire in his arms. Looking at his third grandchild in wonderment.

"Of course." She smiled and glanced at the clock on the wall. "But I gotta hurry now." She added and gave a kiss to Claire and left the house.

* * *

4th of July, 2020

After their first and last joint celebration of 4th of July on the island in the Bahamas, it quickly became a tradition. Rotating the host from year to year. This year it was Tom and Rachel's turn. After becoming close friends, they had slowly found each other, gotten married and had a daughter now, Emily.

She looked around, the large amount of children that was attending the barbecue were being shepherd by her own mother, Debbie and Danny's mom Sheyla, who had survived the pandemic along with her husband Travis. But sadly he had passed away a year ago. Danny's little brother had made it too, now serving in the Navy as well. Annie on the other hand hadn't been so lucky.

She remembered the New Year's Eve they had spend on the island. The chatter, the laughter and the sound of children playing that night. This day reminded her of that particular night. She had wondered if things would be normal ever again and now, five years later, it did seem like the pandemic was forgotten, but she knew it wasn't. As she sat by a table in the garden, she saw the familiar faces of the people they had been with on the island.

Bertrise and Will Mason had recently gotten married and from the looks of it, were expecting.

Eric and Sam were married and had their second child this year.

Repopulating the earth was going on everywhere. She patted her round belly, reminding herself that she too was going to be a mother again. Even Christine and Mike had gotten an addition to their family, still chuckling to the memory when Mike had learned that Christine would be having twins.

"Hey look who came." Danny came to stand beside her and was accompanied by Wolf and a striking looking lady by his side.

"This is Azima Kandie. We met in Marokko." Wolf introduced them to Kandie. He has been traveling around the world lately and looks like he finally might have found someone to hold on to. Now it was only Javier who they needed to match up with someone, she thought.

Even Frankie had gotten himself hitched the year before with a woman named Meghan and now he was a father for a little girl.

Later in the evening as they were all waiting for the fireworks, she was sitting beside Danny feeling his arms tightly around her. Staring at the dark sky and remembering New Year's Eve from five years ago. How the night sky had been so dark that night, filled with only bright white stars. And now as the fireworks began displaying their fervent show on the sky, she looked at the colors and heard the sounds. Thinking back how they had survived, how Dr. Rachel Scott now Mrs. Chandler, had managed to do the impossible.

She had created a vaccine, a cure.

She had saved the world.

x

 **The End**

* * *

With this final closure to the story, the journey of Phase Six ends. Hope those who have followed the story from the beginning have enjoyed it. It's been awesome writing it, but everything comes to an end one day. :)

So big thank you for you all!

I do have a small spark for a Spin-Off that would be following Tom and Rachel, and how their relationship would develop for this story. So if that is something you are interested in reading, let me know. Not sure how it would be, or if it would sort of be a Sequel to this story (unraveling what has happened during the five years).

If you're in more need of stories, check out my newest AU - 'A Tangled Web'.


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